Now That You're Grown
by hubluhbluhbluhbleh
Summary: Lucas Friar was dropped a major bomb at the end of the last story. Now there's going to be a war. Sadie's mother is back, and she wants to see her daughter again. But she'll have to go through Lucas and his group of friends first. Sequel to This is Growing Up.
1. Chapter 1

_**Hey guys! I am so happy that y'all loved This is Growing Up. I hope y'all like this next installment of the story. Y'all will find out answers from the many questions that y'all were left asking during This is Growing Up, and they will be a bit surprising. There will be a lot of flashbacks, a lot of drama, a lot of emotional pain.**_

 _ **This story will be rated T, but there may be a few chapters where that rating will go up.**_

 _ **Enjoy! (I will try to write better and stop writing these chapter at two in the morning)**_

* * *

Lucas Friar sits down on his bed, bewildered by the sudden appearance of his daughter, Sadie's biological mother, Kaitlyn Massey. He can think of a few words to describe that woman. All of the struggle she put him through; all of the pain she put Sadie through. Even though Sadie is four years old, she knew that something was weird with her family. She sees all of the little girls and the one little boy being picked up from her ballet class by their mommies. And she knows that her Aunt Riley is going to be a mommy. She had to ask Lucas about her one day.

Luckily for Lucas, Sadie was sound asleep when Kaitlyn stopped by. The only tough thing about the confrontation was getting Kaitlyn to leave.

...

 _Lucas freezes when he sees who is at the door. He can't believe that she is standing right there in front of him._

 _"What are you doing here?" He asks._

 _"I'm here to see my daughter," Kaitlyn replies._

 _At this point, Lucas's face turns red. It turns red with embarrassment and red with anger. He wonders what gave her the nerve to show up four years after abandoning his daughter._

 _Kaitlyn invites herself into Lucas's apartment and looks around, "Well? Are you going to tell me?"_

 _"Excuse me?" Maya begins, "What makes you think you can just walk in here like you own the place and force Lucas to let you see Sadie?"_

 _Lucas is still at a loss for words. He doesn't know what to say yet, and he's even more surprised at how protective Maya is getting._

 _"Maya, sweetheart. Still pining over Lucas, aren't you?" Kaitlyn asks, "I don't know what makes you think you can play house with Lucas and my daughter."_

 _"MY daughter," Lucas interrupts. He walks over in front of Kaitlyn and studies her facial features._

 _"You lost your chance to say that when you walked out on her only after a few days. I'm sorry, but you can't see her. She's upstairs asleep, first of all. And I won't allow you to see her," Lucas says._

 _Kaitlyn glares at him. She doesn't move, but Lucas knows that it's because she doesn't know what to say. She glares at Maya too._

 _"I think you should leave before I call the police. But before you do, I want you to hear something. You were never Sadie's mother. You never were, and you never will be. Please don't come around here. Please don't call. We don't want anything to do with you," Lucas says. He knows he sounds a little bit harsh, but Kaitlyn need to hear the truth, no matter how harsh it is._

 _"You'll regret saying that, Lucas."_

 _Kaitlyn turns around and walks out of his penthouse. Lucas turns to look at his friends. Things stay quiet between them before Lucas walks off. He goes upstairs and slams his door._

 _..._

Maya Hart quietly makes her way up to Lucas's room and stands in his doorway, watching him. He has his face buried in his hands and is taking deep breaths. She walks over to him and takes a seat next to him on his bed. She lays a supportive hand on his shoulder.

"I wasn't expecting that," Lucas says.

"I don't think any of us were."

Maya lays her head on Lucas's shoulder and rubs his back with the hand that was previously on his shoulder. She doesn't know what to make of the situation. She wants to help Lucas, but she doesn't know how. Situations like these usually end up one way, in a court room.

"Maya, I know that won't be the last I see of her. I know that this will turn into a huge mess that will confuse Sadie. I don't know what to say to her. I don't know where to begin with any of this," Lucas explains.

"I am just as confused as you are right now. But I can tell you something I do know," Maya says. Lucas looks at her waiting for her to say what needs to say.

"I know that you won't go through this alone. You have me. You have Riley and Farkle and Zay. We are all here for you. And if you need a lawyer, I think we all know who we can go to for help with that."

Lucas lays his head on Maya's shoulder now. He keeps saying "I can't lose her", and it breaks Maya's heart to hear him say that. She comforts him long enough for him to get all of his current state of sadness out of his system. She's about to stand up and go to her room, but Lucas grabs her wrist.

"Can you please stay in here with me tonight? I don't want to sleep alone," Lucas says.

Maya nods, "Let me go get changed into something more comfortable. You should probably do the same thing," She tells him. Lucas nods and stands up walking off to get changed.

Maya walks out of his room. She walks past her bedroom to check on Sadie. When she opens the door to the little girl's bedroom, Maya sees that Sadie is still sleeping comfortably. She'll wake up tomorrow morning not knowing that her biological mother came by the night before to see her.

It kind of scares Maya too. Maya has grown to really love Sadie, like a daughter. She already knows how Sadie sees her. But what about when she finds out that her biological mother wants to be apart of her life? Will she forget about Maya? Will she hate Maya? Nobody will know until it happens.

She closes the door to the bedroom and walks to her room. She trades her jeans and dress shirt for a t-shirt and sweatpants. She throws her hair up into a pony tail and brushes her teeth before walking back to Lucas's bedroom. He's already laying down with the covers thrown over his pelvis. She makes her way over to the other side of Lucas's bed and lays down beside him.

Maya can't help but think of how comfortable his bed is. Maybe now is not the right time to think that, but she really does feel more comfortable in his bed.

"Goodnight, Lucas."

"Goodnight, Maya."

* * *

She wakes up sweating. Her heartbeat has has sped up rapidly. She sits up quickly, bringing Lucas up with her. Maya tries to calm her breathing down with help from Lucas.

"Maya! It's okay! You're awake, just breathe," Lucas says. He takes a few deep breaths before she starts mimicking the pattern of his breathing. He's holding onto her hands to help her calm down. She continues to copy the rhythm of the breathing, and she closes her eyes.

Lucas brings his thumb up to tenderly wipe away a few of her tears. He pulls her into his embrace, which causes him to notice how badly Maya is shaking.

"Thank you. I'm sorry for waking you up," Maya says.

"Don't worry about me right now. I just hope you're okay. Did you have a nightmare or something?" Lucas asks.

Maya nods her head, trying to get the images out of her mind. She's been having nightmares like this since she got out of the hospital and came to Lucas's penthouse.

They look at the alarm clock sitting on the nightstand beside Lucas's bed. _3:30 a.m. Great._

"Do you need anything?" Lucas yawns.

"No, thanks. I just need to go back to sleep. You should go back to sleep too," Maya replies.

They lay back down to get comfortable again. Lucas wraps his arm around Maya's waist and pulls her closer to him. The warmth of his chest radiating to her back makes her feel secure. She can practically feel his heartbeat against her back. This should feel weird. She should feel uncomfortable. It doesn't feel that way though. She lays her hand over top of his and listens to the sound of Lucas's breathing, which eventually lulls her back to sleep.

* * *

When Maya wakes up again, the sun is out. And her best friend's face is in her own, trying to quietly wake her up. Maya, a little startled at first, pulls her face away from Riley's. But she giggles at her best friend's silliness.

"You two are so adorable," Riley whispers. Maya turns a little bit and notices that Lucas is still asleep beside her, and his arm is still secured around her. So Maya, careful not wake Lucas up, lifts his arm up long enough for her to get off the bed.

"What are you doing here? How did you even get in here?" Maya asks. She and Riley walk out of Lucas's room and go downstairs to the kitchen.

Maya pours them both a glass of tea before they walk to the living room and sit down on the couch.

"Why does he put ice in his tea?" Riley asks.

"It's got to be a southern thing," Maya responds making them both giggle.

"Okay," Riley begins, "I am here right now because I know how things like this situation are going to work out, and I think you know too. Kaitlyn isn't going to leave without a fight. So I figured that I would give someone a call to help Lucas with this whole ordeal."

"Who?" Maya asks.

Riley stands up and walks to the door. Maya peeking over to see who could possible be on the other side. And when Riley opens it, it's almost as if the choir of the heavens started to sing.

"Maya! It's been so long!"

"Mrs. Matthews!" Maya responds and gives Topanga a great big hug.

"I can't believe how grown up you guys are," Topanga says wrapping her other arm around Riley, "Riley's having a baby of her own; you're doing great things at your dance studio. I feel like you kids have grown up so fast."

"We can't believe it either, Mrs. Matthews," Maya says.

"Okay, mom. I hate to cut this reunion short, but we need to know how to help Lucas," Riley says.

"Right!" Topanga says, "Is Lucas here? I feel like if I am taking him as a client, then he should know that I am doing so."

"Yea, I'm here," Lucas says. The three women turn around and see Lucas standing at the bottom of the staircase. Topanga stands up with a smile on her face and goes to give Lucas a hug. She tells him how she can't believe how successful he's been, and how well he's been taking care of Sadie. She tells him how proud she is of all of them.

They sit back down in the living room, and Lucas asks, "So, you're taking me in as your client?"

"Yes, but only if you want me to. Riley told me about the whole situation. Even if Kaitlyn doesn't want to turn this into a custody battle, it's still best to have a lawyer ready just in case she does want to turn it into that. I am here to help you fight for your daughter, if you want me to," Topanga explains.

"I don't know what to do. I want to believe that this won't end up in a custody battle, but I can't control that. So I will hire you as my lawyer. Thank you," Lucas responds.

Topanga shakes Lucas's hand, "It'll be nice doing business for you and Sadie, Lucas. And I can't wait to meet her again."

"If you want to stick around for a little bit then you probably can. She's a little worn out from yesterday, but she won't sleep all day," Lucas says.

"I think I'll do that," Topanga responds.

"Would y'all like something to drink? I can make some coffee or tea? I have water and juice!" Lucas says making Topanga laugh.

"Thank you, Lucas. I'll have some coffee," Topanga responds.

"I'll help you out with that," Riley says, and Maya immediately knows that something else is up. Who needs help making coffee? Maya can tell when Riley is plotting something, usually something good, but this time is different.

Topanga turns around and places her hand on Maya's shoulder. This tells Maya that Riley and her mother had planned this ambush.

"Riley also told me about what happened to you. You can press charges against Tony and have him put in jail. But it will be hard to do, considering that your bruises are beginning to heal, and you didn't name him as your assailant when you were taken to the hospital. I'm shocked to hear that they didn't take any DNA from the scratches and bruises on your face and legs. But I will do everything in my power to make sure that you will get justice," Topanga says.

"Thank you, Mrs. Matthews, but I don't think it would be worth it," Maya says, "Plus, I'm more worried about Lucas and Sadie right now."

"And that's fine. You don't have to press charges. And it's okay that you are more worried about Lucas and Sadie, but don't forget about yourself. If you ever need anybody, Cory and I are here for you."

Maya knows that she is right, but Maya doesn't know if she can focus on anything else. Lucas and Sadie have made Maya happy again, and she feels that if she spends too much time worrying about herself and Tony, then Lucas and Sadie will wind up in a dark place.

* * *

 _ **Okay! That's the first chapter of the sequel! I hope y'all enjoyed it. This chapter was gonna be much shorter, and the last two parts were supposed to be in chapter 2, but I decided to join them together into the first chapter.**_

 _ **I do want to say that y'all will see more about Topanga and Cory. And this situation with Tony won't be going away any time soon.**_

 _ **Love y'all!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hey y'all! I'm so happy that so many of you enjoyed the first chapter of the sequel. This chapter will have a lot of fluff, but I can't help but end it on a more non-fluffy note.**_

 _ **Anyway! Enjoy the cuteness while you can!**_

* * *

Maya wakes up in Lucas's bed again. She honestly hasn't moved back to her room since Lucas asked her to stay with him in his room. She feels like she's intruding somehow, but Lucas always reassures her that he doesn't mind if she stays in his room with him.

She feels safe in his arms. They would fall asleep on different sides of the bed, but they would meet in the middle sometime during the night. It's honestly the most comfortable Maya has ever felt in the last few years. She wasn't able to sleep in her old apartment due to the loud noises outside, and her fear that her ex-boyfriend would barge in at any time, drunk.

Maya rolls over to see Lucas watching her. Her face turns red, and she rolls back over to her previous position. She closes her eyes with a smirk on her face.

"For someone who is supposed to be my friend, you staring at me is kind of creepy," Maya says. She feels Lucas's chest move in laughter even though he didn't make a sound.

"Don't think I haven't caught you staring at me while I sleep," Lucas responds. Maya laughs and flips over to her stomach, lifting her head to look at Lucas. He has his head resting in his hand that isn't wrapped around her.

"So what are we going to do today?" Lucas asks.

"Well, I am going with Riley to her ultrasound appointment in a little while, so I don't know what you're going to do, Huckleberry,' Maya teases.

Lucas sits up from his position on the bed. He props himself against the headboard and sighs, "Maybe Sadie and I will take a trip to visit Uncle Zay and Aunt Kala. I need to tell Zay what's going on with Kaitlyn anyway. He still has no idea."

Maya's expression drops to pure annoyance as she asks, "How about we just call her 'she who shalt not be named'?"

"Good idea."

* * *

Riley Matthews-Minkus honks her horn, "You shouldn't be on the road if you don't know how to drive, moron!" She yells, earning a surprised glance from her best friend sitting in the passenger seat of her car.

When Riley went to her first ultrasound appointment with Farkle four weeks ago, she found out that she is currently eight weeks along. Maya can see that Riley has that beautiful pregnancy glow. And maybe a few mood swing, but Maya isn't going to bring that up.

"Is Farkle not coming today?" Maya asks.

"He was going to, but then he got a call about a job offer. He has to go in for an interview and if that goes well, then he'll go on a tour of the building also," Riley responds.

"What kind of job was he looking for?"

"He wants a job where he can be the boss but still work at home. He still wants to run the daycare center with me. And since he found out about the baby, he wants to be there for the both of us. Like he's always said he would do," Riley says.

Maya smiles. She is so happy that her two best friends are happy together and starting a family. She wonders what it's like to have a family of her own. She wonders what it's like to be pregnant. Maya loves kids, and she wants to have a lot, but she doesn't want to start having a family when it's too late.

"You're really lucky to have him, Riles. And I am so happy and proud of the both of you. Looking at how happy and in love you two are in makes me feel a joy that I would probably never feel for anybody else. I am lucky to have the both of you in my life. Again," Maya says.

Riley grabs Maya's hand and squeezes it as a way to saying 'ditto' to what Maya just told her. She is very happy to have her other best friend back in her life. She used to wonder why Maya and she drifted apart despite the old promises of staying together. Riley remembers how much they both cried on the day of their high school graduation. They were sitting at the bay window wondering how they were going to keep in touch when they both went off to college. Obviously the plan of calling each other and meeting each other on holidays didn't work. That was a hard lesson that they both had to learn. A lesson that her father couldn't teach them.

She wondered where her other best friend was when she had her miscarriage. Riley really needed Maya to be there for her. She needed Maya to be there for Farkle.

But, Riley realized after it happened that she is as much to blame for Maya not being there because they hadn't talked in two years.

She realizes now, though, that her other best friend is here again. And she doesn't want to lose her best friend again.

* * *

Lucas and Sadie are greeted by Zay and Kala at the front door of the Babineaux House. When they walk in, Zay and Kala's daughter, Tia, invites Sadie to go play in her room. Sadie looks at Lucas for permission, and Lucas gives Sadie permission.

"Go. Have fun," Lucas tells her. Sadie giggles and runs up to Tia's room.

"To what or whom do I owe this special visit to?" Zay asks.

Lucas sighs and follows Zay and Kala to their living room. He sits down in a chair facing perpendicular to the couch, ready to rant.

"Uh oh," Zay says.

"Kaitlyn Massey."

Zay shakes his head in disappointment, "I'll be right back. This calls for the good beer."

Lucas gives his best friend a weird look. He stops Zay from standing up before he says, "No. I'm not drinking in front of my daughter, and I know you've stopped drinking since your daughter was born. Just sit back down, please? And listen? I need your help."

"I'm here for you, buddy," Zay responds, "But I need to know what happened."

"She just showed up. It was after my welcome home party was over. You two already left. I had just put Sadie in her bed because she was exhausted from the day. She just showed up to my house and invited herself in. She demanded that she see my daughter," Lucas explains.

"Hmm. What did you do after that?" Zay asks.

"Well. I told her that Sadie was asleep, and that she couldn't see Sadie. I told her to leave my house before I called the cops on her for trespassing. That's when she told me that I would regret saying that. So I just know that this is going to turn into something that it doesn't need to. Riley and Maya called Mrs. Matthews, and we talked about her representing me if there were to be a custody battle."

"Okay. I think you're heading in the right direction with Mrs. Matthews on your side," Zay adds.

"Me too. I didn't want Riley or Maya to get involved, especially Maya. But I am not going to say that I was upset when they talked to Mrs. Matthews for me. I know she's one of the best lawyers I can have, but I still can't help but feel nervous and scared that I'm going to lose my daughter," Lucas says.

"How can I help?"

"We can just really use support, from the both of you. I haven't told Sadie that he mother came to see her because I don't know how she's going to react," Lucas says.

"Hey, man. It's going to be okay. You need to tell Sadie, but tell her when you feel ready to tell her. She loves you, and she won't get mad at you. You are that girl's hero; you can do no wrong in her eyes," Zay explains. Lucas agrees and takes another deep breath, something he tends to do when he's stressed.

"Don't try to do this alone. We are all here for you."

* * *

"Alright Mrs. Matthews-Minkus," Riley's doctor says, "You ready?"

"As much as I'll ever be, Dr. Newton," Riley responds.

She takes a deep breath, nervous about the ultrasound. Maya senses this and grabs Riley's hand. Maya understands why Riley would be so nervous, even though she's never had a miscarriage. She does know that she wants kids some day and if she ever had that taken away from her, then she would be devastated.

"Okay, I'm going to squirt this cool jelly on your stomach, like the first time we did this. Will you lift your shirt up, please?" Dr. Newton asks.

Riley pulls her shirt up to the top of her belly just underneath her breasts. Her breath hitches when Dr. Newton squirts some of the cold jelly onto her stomach. She can't help but giggle when the doctor spreads the jelly around her belly using the transducer.

"You're eight weeks right?" Dr. Newton asks. Riley nods.

Dr. Newton turns to the screen of her machine and clicks a button. The sounds coming from the machine sound like someone tapping on a drum. Riley's face lights up with pure joy, and Maya's face turns into pure panic.

"What's that noise? Why is that machine making that noise?" Maya asks, freaking out a little bit.

Riley giggles at her best friend, "That's my baby's heartbeat."

That is when Maya's face lights up with pure joy too. Her eyes well up with tears before she finally lets them go and is a blubbering mess.

"I can't believe it," Maya says, wiping tears off her cheeks. At this moment, Farkle walks in and immediately takes notice of Maya's crying.

"What's wrong? Is everything okay?" Farkle asks. His whole body shakes with anxiety when he sees Maya crying because he thinks that something is wrong with the baby. His anxiety goes away when Riley tells him that Maya just heard the baby's heartbeat, and that she is crying happy tears.

"Oh thank God! Wait... did you say the baby's heartbeat?" Farkle asks. Riley nods as Farkle listens closely to the quiet little beats coming from the machine.

"That's our baby," Farkle whispers.

"That's our baby."

* * *

Maya and Farkle are waiting for Riley to finish peeing before they leave the doctors office. Maya notices that Farkle hasn't stopped smiling since he heard his baby's heartbeat.

"Was that your first time hearing a baby's heartbeat?" Maya asks.

Farkle nods, "Yea. I didn't get to hear it when Riley was pregnant the first time. I was trying to find a job, and I was going in for interviews for hours every day. Kind of like today, but I promised that I would be here today. And I'm glad that I was."

"What kind of job are looking for?" Maya asks.

"Well. I told Riley that I had an interview for a high powered managerial position at a fake company. It wasn't entirely a lie. I just wanted to surprise her, but I'll go ahead and tell you. My father retired as CEO at Minkus International this week. He left me the company," Farkle says.

Maya, with surprise and happiness, hugs Farkle, "Congratulations, Farkle! I am so happy for you!"

"Thank you, Maya. I was really excited when he told me because Riley and I will need that kind of income when the baby comes. And I can work from home, which is perfect because I want to be there for Riley and the baby. I'll also get to keep working at the daycare center," He explains.

"I am so proud of the both of you. I feel like when I'm around you guys that I can do anything," Maya says.

"Thank you. I don't know if Riley ever told you this, but we are proud of you too. You're going to do great things Maya Hart. If you don't believe us, then ask Lucas. You've done so much for him, and he never fails to reminds us."

Riley walks out into the waiting room and joins Maya and Farkle. She asks if they are ready to go, and they both agree that they are. They walk out of the doctors office arm in arm.

Maya feels like nothing can ruin this day.

* * *

When Maya walks into Lucas's penthouse she can feel the sudden change of mood. Lucas is sitting on the couch by himself. She walks over to him and sits down next to him. His face is red, and his cheeks and eyes are puffy. He's obviously been crying.

"Hey. What's the matter? What happened?" Maya asks.

Lucas doesn't say anything. He hands Maya the opened envelope with a number of papers regarding Sadie and custody case.

"H-how? When?" Maya asks.

"She delivered them personally to me about an hour ago. She told me that she knew I was gonna regret not letting her see Sadie. I didn't know what to do, so I told her to get the hell out," Lucas explains.

Maya looks around, "Wait. Where is Sadie? Did she try to get in here to see her again? I will kill her if she did."

"No. Sadie is at my parents' house. She wanted to see grandma, which I had to tell her about 'she who shalt not be named' too. My mother insisted that Sadie spend the night, and I let her. I'm glad that I did let her stay the night because I had no idea that 'she who shalt not be named' was going to show up," Lucas replies.

Maya sighs and continues to comfort Lucas.

"We're gonna get her, Lucas. Sadie isn't going anywhere."

* * *

 _ **That's it for this chapter! I really feel like I could've done a better job with this one. But I hope y'all liked this chapter. Things will keep getting interesting from here on out.**_

 _ **Love y'all!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hello! I don't really have much to say before I begin this chapter besides the usual...**_

 _ **Hope y'all enjoy! This has a pretty important flashback in this.  
**_

 _ **This is also a short chapter but so important.**_

* * *

Maya and Lucas stay with each other after 'she who shalt not be named' delivered the custody papers. They start off talking about their current situations. Why did Kaitlyn want anything to do with Sadie all of a sudden? Why didn't she make an effort months before tonight? The letter says that parents who file for custody have to fill out a complaint one hundred and twenty days before any custody papers can be drawn. And the last time Lucas remembers seeing Kaitlyn was four years ago.

Sadie was barely two months old at the time. She comes over to Lucas's house at three in the morning with the sleeping baby in a car seat.

...

 _"Kaitlyn? What are you doing here?" Lucas asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, "Is Sadie okay? What's wrong with her?"_

 _Kaitlyn shook her head and handed Sadie over to Lucas. Lucas took Sadie's car seat in his arm, and he walks over to the living room of his parents' house. He gently unbuckled the infant from her seat and cradled her in his arms. Kaitlyn stood at the door the entire time._

 _"She seems fine to me. Why did you bring her over here at three in the morning?" Lucas asked._

 _"I can't do this anymore, Lucas," Kaitlyn started, "It was stupid of us to think that we could raise her together as co-parents. I'm struggling to sleep, and I can tell that you're struggling also. I think it's best if we put her up for adoption. I found this really great adoption agency that is willing to take her and find her a great home. Some people should be coming over here tomorrow to take her."_

 _"What the hell, Kaitlyn? You just put her up for adoption without ever asking me first? What if I don't want to put her up for adoption? Do you ever think about anybody else but yourself?" Lucas whispered because he was holding a sleeping infant in his arms._

 _"Lucas, I'm just doing what I think is best for me and you. I-"_

 _"What about her? She's the most important person in all of this. She's the one who's gonna be the most affected by this," Lucas interrupted._

 _"I'm sorry, Lucas," Kaitlyn said before she left._

 _Lucas walked to his room with his daughter in arms. He couldn't sleep at all that night. But it wasn't because of Sadie's crying. It was just because he wanted to look at her sleep and look at her when she was awake. It was also because he wanted to soak in his new life as a single dad._

 _He didn't know how he was going to adjust, so he called the only person who he knows can help him cope with his new life. The only person he felt like he could trust right now even though she couldn't trust him._

 _"Maya?" Lucas called with a shaky voice. His hands were trembling, his voice was trembling, and his heart was racing just thinking about everything all at once._

 _"Lucas? If you or Sadie aren't dying right now, then I'm going to kill you for waking me up this early on a Saturday," Maya replied._

 _"I just need to talk to you," His throat went dry at this moment, "Kaitlyn left. She dropped Sadie off here, and she left us. I couldn't think of anyone else to call."_

 _He could here Maya sigh over the phone as well as some slight shuffling._

 _"I'll be over in five minutes."_

 _..._

Maya wakes up the next morning in Lucas's bed, which isn't a surprise. Her head feels like it's ready to bust open. And if this isn't cliche enough, she is laying next to a nude Lucas. She looks under the covers to see if she, herself is nude. Her findings? Very much so. She pulls the covers over he head and wonders what she can do to take back what happened. She didn't do this on purpose. This is what happens when two people decide to go to an ABC store and share a bottle of wine together.

Lucas is facing away from Maya. She is happy that he is facing away from her, to be honest. She can't look at his face after what happened between them last night. What time even is it?

Maya quietly slips out of the bed with Lucas and grabs her clothes. She walks out of his room and into her own where she grabs fresh clothes. But she can barely walk with how horrible her hangover is. She takes a quick shower before she grabs some ibuprofen for both her and Lucas. She sets the ibuprofen tablets and a glass of water on his nightstand beside his bed.

While she's blow drying her hair, she thinks about how much they've screwed things up between them over one night. But she can't worry about that right now. She has to go pick Sadie up.

...

 _Maya was holding Sadie, burping her after her five am feeding. Lucas rubbed his eyes again and yawned. Maya knew this must've been the longest night of his life. She remembered how much her mother cried and how angry her mother got after her father left. She also remembered how her mother stopped paying attention to her. She didn't want Lucas to do that with Sadie. It hurts when one parents leaves, but it hurts even worse when the second one leaves too._

 _"I still can't believe she just left. What happened to the girl at prom who was bragging that she was going to be a great mother? I should've known this was going to happen," Maya said. She settled Sadie down in her crib in Lucas's room after a good burping._

 _"She said she was thinking about me and her. So I told her that her first worry should be about Sadie," Lucas explained. Maya nodded and continued to listen, "She told me that she put Sadie up for adoption at a great agency, but she didn't even tell me which adoption agency. But they're supposed to be sending people here today to pick her up."_

 _"Are you going to do that? Are you going to give your daughter up for adoption?" Maya asked._

 _"Well. I've had a little bit of time to think about it. And while I do want to go to college and be successful, I decided to keep her. I just can't bring myself to give her up. I love her too much," Lucas replied._

 _"I'm glad to hear that. That girl has really changed you, and I like it. It's a good change. But you do know that you can still go to college and be successful with a baby?" Maya said._

 _Lucas nodded, "I know. It's just going to be really tough. I don't know how I'm going to handle this, but I'm going to try my best to be there for her."_

 _Maya's heart skipped a beat. Hearing the boy that she had fallen in love with say that about his daughter really brought up old and new feelings, but she didn't know if she could trust him anymore. He really messed that up when he got another girl pregnant while they were together._

 _"Thank you for coming over, Maya. I know that things between us are rocky right now, but I also know that I can always count on you," Lucas said, yawning again._

 _"No problem. Anything for Sadie," Maya replied, taking notice of how much Lucas was yawning._

 _"Why don't you go to sleep for a little bit. I can watch Sadie if she wakes up again."_

 _"Are you sure? I can stay up and watch her myself," Lucas said._

 _"You have barely gotten any sleep. You look horrible. Just do what I say," Maya demanded. Lucas chuckled and laid down. Maya started telling how he was going to be fine as a single father. She was going to tell him how Sadie was lucky to have him as her father, but when she turned around, Lucas was knocked out._

 _"Poor little Huckleberry. You aren't going to be alone."_

 _..._

"Maya Hart! I haven't seen you in forever! How are you doing?" Lucas's mother asks giving Maya a hug and inviting her inside.

"I'm fine. I'm just here to pick Sadie up," Maya replies looking at Sadie with a smile on her face, "Lucas isn't feeling too well, right now," Maya explains holding her hand up expressing the sign that Lucas has a really bad hangover in front of Mrs. Friar.

"Oh. Okay," Mrs. Friar responds, "Sadie, won't you go get your things together and play for a little while longer. I need to talk to Maya. Is that okay?"

"Okay," Sadie replies and runs back to her playroom. Mrs. Friar and Maya take a seat on her living room couch.

"I can tell Lucas isn't taking this whole thing with Sadie's mother coming back too well? To be honest, I'm not surprised. I'm just glad he didn't drink in front of Sadie or do anything stupid while drinking, last night," Mrs. Friar says.

Maya gulps and nods, "Yep. Glad that didn't happen either."

"I just can't believe she decided to come back after all of these years. It takes a lot of nerve for someone to come back unexpectedly and demand that she sees her daughter whom she abandoned. If I was there that night, I probably would've given her a piece of my mind," Mrs. Friar says.

"She only cares about herself."

"She probably wants a share of what Lucas is making when he does those boxing matches. He doesn't get paid cheap. And I know that I shouldn't support this, especially after that last match with that Tony guy, but he makes really good money to take care of Sadie and himself. I just want him to be happy."

"Me too," Maya says.

Mrs. Friar smiles at Maya, "I know you do. I know you want Sadie to be happy too. She talks about you all the time, you know? That girl loves you like you're her mother," Mrs. Friar says and pauses to see Maya's reaction before continuing, "I've never said this about or to any of Lucas's girlfriends, but you are my favorite, Maya. I never saw him as happy as he was when he was with you. It tore him to pieces when he slept with that girl. And after y'all broke up, he told me, he said, 'I really messed this one up, mom. I just lost one the best girls I'll ever be with.' But I told him that if it was meant to be then y'all would be together again. Now look at you two. I told him so."

"Actually, Lucas and I aren't together. I am Sadie's ballet teacher, and we started hanging out again, as friends. But he helped me through a lot, and I'm trying my best to be there for him," Maya explains.

"Like you haven't been there for him before," Mrs. Friar says sarcastically, "You've helped him more than anyone, Maya. Don't even get me started."

Maya laughs and stands up and calls for Sadie before she says, "Well, it was nice talking to you again, Mrs. Friar. I hope we can talk some more in the future, but I've got to get Sadie home. Thank you for watching her last night. At least Lucas got his mind off of what's happening."

"I'll talk to y'all soon. Bye sweet girl," She says hugging Maya. She bends down and hugs her granddaughter, "I love you, Sadie. I'll see you soon."

"Bye grandmaw," Sadie says grabbing Maya's hand and walking out of her grandparents' house.

* * *

Sadie rushes through the front door of her house and runs to her dad who is in the living room. She gives him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Lucas laughs, "Hey sweet pea. How was your sleepover at grandmaw's house? Was it fun?"

"Yes. We watched a movie and colored and painted nails and grandmaw braided my hair. I had a lot of fun," Sadie explains, "Do you feel better, daddy?"

"What do you mean?" Lucas asks.

"Maya said you weren't feeling good," Sadie replies.

Lucas gets the gist and nods, "Oh yea. Daddy just had a bit of a belly ache and a headache, but he feels better now. Thank you for asking, sweetheart."

"I'm happy you feel better, daddy," Sadie says giving Lucas another big hug, "I'm happy you're my daddy."

Lucas smiles and tries to fight back tears, "I'm really really happy that you're my daughter, and that I get to be your daddy. Why don't we all stay in today and watch movies just like you and grandmaw did last night. Does that sound fun?"

"Yea! Can I go change into my pajamas?" Sadie asks.

"Of course, go ahead, kiddo," Lucas replies. Sadie runs upstairs, and Maya takes a seat on the couch beside him. They aren't looking at each other, and the air around them feels awkward.

Lucas finally turns to look at Maya, "I am such an idiot. And I'm sorry that that happened."

"I'm sorry too. It's not just your fault. I had as much to do with it as you. I just don't want things between us to be awkward and weird. I mean, if you want to I can leave. If it's weird," Maya says.

"No. I'm not gonna ask you to do that. Let's just pretend it never happened. I know that it may be a little hard...I mean difficult...difficult to do, but we can do it...forget that it happened, I mean..." Lucas continues to ramble.

"Lucas?" Maya interrupts.

"What?"

"Just stop. It's going to be okay. Just breathe," Maya says. Lucas nods as they wait for Sadie to come back.

Hopefully they can just pretend it never happened.

* * *

 _ **Hope y'all liked it! Sorry that I'm uploading it pretty late. I've just had a really busy day.**_

 _ **I know that I said I was going to put Friar Family Ties on hold, but I decided to delete the story and rewrite it again, later. I do however have another story coming out soon. (Not sure if it'll be a one-shot or an actual story. I haven't worked out all the details, but I got the idea from gglover321, and it's awesome.) So keep a look out for that!  
**_

 _ **Love y'all!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hey y'all! I hope you guys enjoyed the last chapter because we found out some pretty important stuff about the characters.**_

 _ **This chapter will include a lot of useful information for Lucas and Maya. With a little help from Cory and a lot of help from Topanga.  
**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

* * *

"You don't have to sleep in here if you don't want to. I understand if you don't want to," Lucas says. Maya is holding her pajamas and toothbrush in her hands. After what happened last night, she figured that Lucas was going to act this way. Maya is surprisingly okay about what conspired between them last night. Lucas isn't mad at her for what happened, and it's not like they haven't done it before. She's not worried about it any more.

"If you don't want me to sleep in here, then that's okay. I'll be fine sleeping in the guest room," Maya says.

This, however, is a lie. She can't sleep in the guest room anymore. Not by herself, anyway. She has been having so many nightmares about her past with Tony Espinoza. She dreams of what he did to her. She dreams of what he did to Lucas. The only thing different about what happens in her dreams and what happened in reality is that her dreams end in a whole different way. A scary way.

"You're a horrible liar."

Maya rolls her eyes. She thought she had gotten better at not showing her 'tell'. Lucas remembers that Maya puts one foot on top of the other when she lies. It honestly looks really weird, and Lucas can't remember how he figured her 'tell' out. It's not like she doesn't know his. When you used to be in a relationship with someone for almost three years, then you get to know everything about them. Their quirks, their insecurities, their 'tell'. Everything.

"Are you still having nightmares?" Lucas asks.

Maya doesn't want to tell him, but he won't leave it alone until she talks. "Yes. I feel like they keep getting worse."

"Why didn't you tell me? I know you've had nightmares before, but I didn't know they were this frequent. How much sleep are you getting?" Lucas asks.

She thinks back to the past couple of weeks. She would wake up very early and be too scared to go back to sleep. She never woke Lucas up because he has his own issues to worry about. And what kind of guest would she be if she woke him up almost every night because she's too scared to go back to sleep?

"Not a lot," Maya replies.

Lucas walks over to her. He takes her items out of her hands and sets them on top of his dresser. He grabs her hands and pulls her into a strong and warm embrace. Maya's heart skips a beat when he does this because it surprises her. She figures that he didn't even want to touch her after what happened last night, so the fact that he's here, comforting her, hugging her, makes a wave of relief wash through her body.

Most people would avoid each other and try to stay away from the awkward situation, but it's different with them for some reason. The reason has to be because they both have a lot on their plates. They aren't worried about what happened last night because they need to focus on the matter at hand, which is Kaitlyn and Tony.

"I'm so sorry. I know how hard it's been for you, and I hope that I'm trying my best to be there for you. I know we've had a very troubled past together, but I will always be available to help you. Just like you have been there to help me. I want to return the favor. So if you need to talk to me or if you need help going back to sleep, then please tell me. Okay?" Lucas says.

Maya squeezes her arms tighter around him, "Thank you, Lucas."

Lucas lays down in his bed and waits for Maya to finish brushing her teeth and changing into her pajamas. He sighs and wonders what he could do to help Maya.

* * *

The next day, Lucas, Maya, and Sadie meet up with Riley and Farkle. Riley and Farkle are going to her parents' house to support Lucas and Maya while they discuss their plans with Topanga.

"Riley has to pee again," Farkle says.

"Sorry, Lucas. Pregnant lady problems," Riley explains for the fifth time this trip. Maya looks beside her at Lucas and giggles.

When the opportunity is given, Lucas gets off the interstate to a restaurant to allow Riley to go use the bathroom. Seeing that Sadie has to pee as well, Maya takes the four year old with her and Riley to use the bathroom right quick. Farkle and Lucas get out of the car to stretch their legs after this very long drive. And they still have quite a bit more miles to go. Cory and Topanga moved a few hours outside of the city after Auggie went to college. It wasn't an easy transition for Riley and her brother, but they had to come to terms with it.

"So...are you and Maya back together?" Farkle asks.

Lucas gives him a 'where did that question come from?' look. "No. What makes you think that we are?"

"I heard Riley talking on the phone with Maya yesterday, so I heard what happened between the two of you the other night," Farkle explains.

"First of all, did you really hear everything? Or did Riley tell you everything? Second, that was drunken mistake. We shared a bottle of wine and things escalated from there. But we agreed to pretend that it didn't happen," Lucas says.

"Keep telling yourself that, freak. But you won't be able to pretend that it didn't happen. Even if you can barely remember what happened, you can't pretend that it happened. Because you love her too much for that to happen."

"Maya and I already established that we still have feelings for each other, but she doesn't want anything to happen between us. She just got out of a long relationship with shithead, and she just can't bring herself to trust me again after what I did to her. I can't blame her," Lucas explains.

"If it's meant to be, you'll find your ways back to each other. I hate to sound so cliche, but it's true. I'm not just a man of science anymore. I'm a man of feelings as well. So, don't give up the hope of you two being together again. It can still happen. But if you break her heart again, I will have to resort to an even harsher punishment," Farkle says.

Lucas remembers how angry Farkle was when he found about Kaitlyn. He remembers how he hung his head low while Farkle was yelling at him about how Maya is a special girl and how she didn't deserve what he did to her. Lucas hung his head in shame that whole time. Farkle really cares about Riley and Maya.

"That was the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life," Lucas explains.

"Yea, but one of the best things came from it. Don't ever forget that. You got a blessing from your screw up," Farkle says pointing at Sadie, who has just come out of the bathroom with Riley and Maya. Lucas smiles and nods in agreement. Farkle pats his shoulder and gets into the car with the girls.

And they set off to Topanga's and Cory's house. Again.

* * *

"It's nice to see that the two of you have become such successful women. I'm very proud of the both of you," Cory says giving Riley a hug and then Maya.

"Thanks, daddy," Riley says.

"Yea. Thanks, Mr. Matthews," Maya agrees.

"I still talk to Shawn about the two of you. He tells me to keep him updated, and I try my best, but my daughter won't ever come down to see me anymore," Cory fusses, making Maya laugh.

"That's because I live on the other side of the city. It took us five hours to get here. I can't do that everyday. My car and my wallet can't handle that," Riley teases.

"I know. I just wonder how we're going to keep tabs on you when you have my first grandchild," Cory says.

"I've been wondering that too. But I'm only eight weeks along. We still have plenty of time to figure things out. I know I want you guys to be there when I find out the sex of the baby, and I want you guys to be there when I'm having the baby. I've planned a lot of stuff out," Riley explains.

"It's nice to know that you're still planning stuff out," Maya says. Riley smiles.

"It's nice to know that you girls are as close as you were when you were little. And with everything going on with the two of you, I can't say that I'm surprised. You two are always there for each other. Never forget that. I know you two lost touch with each other after high school, but it's never to late to pick back up where you left off. Shawn and I have had to do that many times. Don't lose touch with each other," Cory lectures.

Maya locks her arm with Riley's, "Never again. We've been through way too much to let each other go."

...

Lucas and Topanga are sitting at the Matthews' kitchen table. Topanga is reading over the paper work that Kaitlyn dropped off at Lucas's penthouse. She sets the letter down and looks at him.

"This might be a stretch, but I think we have a good case here. It will be difficult because custody battles usually always end up with the mother winning. We don't have actual proof that Kaitlyn hasn't been around since Sadie was an infant, but yet she files a complaint one hundred twenty days ago. And she hasn't dropped by to see Sadie until a few days before she delivers the papers. The only way we can get the judge to hear us that Sadie is best kept with you is to have Sadie testify," Topanga explains.

Lucas doesn't say anything. What can he say? No? He's working with one of the best lawyers in New York, of course he has to agree with her.

"You did tell Sadie that her mother dropped by to see her, right?" Topanga asks.

Lucas shakes his head, "No. I haven't. I haven't had the heart to tell her, but I will. Do you have any advice for me?"

"Tell her the truth. Don't tell her things that aren't true about Kaitlyn because that will definitely backfire on us in court. And just remind her that it's okay if she wants to see her, but remind her that you will always love her," Topanga explains, "Custody battles can be very hard for children to go through, especially in Sadie's case where the child doesn't even know their other parent. Let her know that she's not alone, and that you support her. It'll be hard, but Sadie loves you. And just remember everybody that is here for you."

"Thank you, Mrs. Matthews. I really appreciate all of the help," Lucas says.

"Anytime, Lucas. Will you please send Maya?" Topanga asks. Lucas nods and walks out of the room. A minute later, Maya walks into the kitchen and sits down in front of the fierce woman.

"Lucas said you wanted to see me?" Maya asks.

"Yes. I know that you are having a hard time recovering from your recent attacks, and I am going to try my best to help you keep your distance from Tony. Like I said before, it would be hard to press charges because most of your wounds are cleaned and healed, so we can't get any DNA evidence against him. But that doesn't mean that you have to be afraid. The best thing that I can do as a lawyer is tell you that you need to get a restraining order filed against him. This will be delivered to him personally, and it will state that he has to keep a distance of 100 yards. If he breaks this then you can call the cops and have him put in jail," Topanga explains.

"Okay. But I know that he won't be in there for a long time," Maya adds.

Topanga nods, "Correct. But he will have to court over it. He already has to take anger management classes. His boss already had a court draw that up. What he did to Lucas is going to affect a lot of things, especially if we can get this case in front a judge."

"Do you have any advice for me as Mrs. Matthews' instead of lawyer?" Maya asks.

"I think you're doing the right thing by staying with Lucas. And I think you're doing the right thing by telling Riley about your nightmares," Topanga begins.

"That girl can't keep a secret to save her life," Maya jokes.

Topanga laughs and continues, "Isn't that the truth? But she only tells because she loves and cares about you. Some advice I can give you is to go talk to a therapist. And if your nightmares don't start going away or get worse than they are, then I would go for a sleep study. This all sounds dreadful, and I hate that that man is causing you so much grief, but if you want to get back to normal, then you have to do these things to help."

Maya sighs, "I know. I'm not looking forward to it, but I know that it will help in the long run. And maybe informing Shawn and my mom of what's happening would be helpful too."

"I'm gonna tell you the same thing I told Lucas. Just remember everybody that is here for you. You aren't alone so don't shut us out. Let us know when there is a problem," Topanga says.

"Thanks, Mrs. Matthews. I love you," Maya says giving the woman a hug.

"No problem you fierce amazon warrior."

* * *

 _ **I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. Sorry it took me so long to write it. I wrote something, then I deleted it. And that happened about five times, but I got it. It's not the most exciting chapter, but things will get interesting the next chapter.**_

 _ **I will say that the next chapter will include a small time jump.**_

 _ **Also, if you haven't seen it yet. I have a new story called Two Way Door with pretty much every sort of emotion that I can think of when I write it. But it will still be a lot of emotions. Hope y'all like that as well.**_

 _ **Love y'all!**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hi guys! I know that it seems that I haven't updated in a while, but I posted chapter 4 on here earlier this week, so if you're a little bit confused then there will be information in the last chapter.**_

 _ **I said at the end of chapter four that there will be a small time jump of about two months.**_

 _ **A lot will happen in this chapter, so I hope y'all enjoy!**_

* * *

Maya feels very giddy today. It's a new feeling compared to the last three or four months. It's a weird feeling, but she can't help but feel very excited. After going through the whole restraining order process with Topanga and helping Lucas with his custody battle, she thinks that it's time that her and Lucas have a good day for once.

"Maya?" Sadie calls, grabbing Maya away from her thoughts, "Why is Riley having a party today? Is it her birthday?"

Maya giggles, "No, sweetie. You know how Riley has a baby inside her tummy?" Sadie nods as Maya carries on,"Well, we are having a party today because everybody is going to find out whether or not the baby is a boy or a girl."

"Oh. Okay. I hope it's a boy," Sadie says.

Maya laughs again, "Why do you hope it's a boy?"

"Well I know a lot of girls from ballet and daycare, but I don't know a lot of boys," Sadie explains. Lucas walks down the stairs and meets the two girls at the front door. Lucas hands Sadie a light jacket and grabs his keys off the counter. They walk out to Lucas's car and are on their way to Riley and Farkle's house.

"Daddy? How long have you known Riley and Farkle?" Sadie asks.

Lucas glances at his daughter in her car seat behind him before he answers. "Well, I moved to New York when I was fourteen. And I was in the same class as Riley, Farkle, and Maya. I met Maya on the subway my first week in the city. And then Maya pushed Riley on me that same day. And Farkle has always been in love with Riley and Maya, so whoever had anything to do with them, he had to be involved as well. But he became one of best friends along with Riley, Zay, and Maya."

"Did you have a crush on Maya?" Sadie asks.

Lucas hesitates before he clears his throat. He's paying attention to the road, but he can feel Maya's eye burning into him, waiting for him to respond.

"Yes."

"He also had a crush on Riley, but that's a different story for a different day," Maya adds, a small smirk appearing on her face. Lucas's face turns red as he remembers the middle school and high school antics involving his attraction towards the two best friends.

"Did Farkle get mad at you?"

"Surprisingly, no. Farkle is so in love with Riley that he just wants her to be happy with whoever makes her happy, even if that person isn't him," Lucas explains.

"That's sad," Sadie comments, making Lucas and Maya laugh. "Do you still have a crush on Maya?"

The laughter stops. Maya looks at Sadie and then back at Lucas. Lucas looks over at Maya, and he notices that his heart still skips a beat when he looks her in those bright blue eyes. He doesn't know it, but Maya's heart does the same thing when he looks at her. He brings himself back to reality for a moment and looks at Sadie.

"Yea. I still have a crush on Maya. I don't think my crush on her every went away," Lucas replies.

"Do you love her?"

"You've been watching soap operas with grandma again haven't you?" Lucas asks. Sadie's eyes get big, and she tries to hide her face with her tiny hands. Lucas chuckles and continues driving.

"But the answer to your question, Sadie, is yes. I do love her. I have loved her for a very long time," Lucas glances at Maya. She is staring at the road in front of her, but she has a glimpse of a smile on her face.

"Okay. Cool," Sadie says.

Lucas has to have another awkward talk with grandma again.

* * *

Riley cheerfully greets Lucas, Maya, and Sadie at the door. When they walk inside they see people they don't know, Riley's parents, Farkle's parents, and some of their friends from high school. Leave it to Riley to keep in touch with everybody they knew.

Lucas and Maya split up. Sadie, feeling nervous around all the new people, holds onto Lucas's leg tightly. She follows Lucas until they meet up with Zay, Kala, Tia, and the newborn girl, Jasmine.

"Hey man!" Lucas greets Zay with a high five, "Congratulations on the baby, both of you."

"Thank you, Lucas. This is Jasmine," Kala says holding the newborn up to him. Lucas takes the baby girl in his arms and smiles from ear to ear. He remembers the first time he held Sadie.

...

 _"Congratulation, Mr. Friar. Want to say hello to your baby girl?" The doctor asked him._

 _Lucas eyebrows raised in surprise. Kaytlin didn't want to know the sex of the baby until it was born. And he wasn't in the delivery room with Kaytlin when the baby was born because the baby was delivered by c-section. Lucas followed the doctor into the room where Kaytlin was laying in her bed. The baby was laying in the warmer. He walked over to the warmer and saw the tiny premature baby girl._

 _"Can I hold her? I know she's premature, but she's not in an incubator," Lucas asked._

 _"in her case, yes. We would usually tell the parents not to hold the baby if they were severely premature. But she's a trooper, and I think she would like to meet her daddy," The doctor responded._

 _A nurse helped place the baby in Lucas's arms. She helped him hold the baby's head up properly and support the baby's back. But when he got the hang of it, the nurse left the room along with Kaytlin, leaving Lucas alone with his daughter. He had tears in his eyes when her bright green eyes looked at him. He gently caressed the soft skin of the baby's cheeks. He touched her fingers, which caused the baby to grasp his index finger. That made Lucas cry even more. He couldn't believe that this baby is apart of him. His daughter. He was so overwhelmed with a new feeling of love for a human being, and all he wanted to do was show her off._

 _"Hey, baby girl," Lucas said rubbing his cheek on his shoulder to wipe a tear away, "My name is Lucas Friar. I am your daddy, and I love you so much. I am very excited that you are here with us now."_

 _"Mr. Friar," A woman entered the room, "Sorry, for interrupting, but I need you to sign the birth certificate. It'll only be a few seconds, and then I'll let you continue talking to your daughter."_

 _Lucas walked over to the baby's warmer. She squirmed a little bit when he gently placed her back into the warmer, but her eyes closed, and she was asleep. Lucas grabbed the birth certificate out of the woman's hand along with a pen. He sees everything on there. Her birth date, her weight, her length, her name. Sadie Elizabeth Friar. Lucas's heart skips a beat. He is so happy that Kaytlin gave her his last name. Sadie was Kaytlin's grandmother's name, and Elizabeth was Lucas's mother's name. The name is perfect. He signed his name on the line where the father is supposed to sign, and he signed it proudly._

 _"I can't believe I have you," He told baby Sadie._

* * *

Maya and Riley are walking outside. Maya can't help but smile at Riley's baby bump. The adorable little bump on her tummy where 'Bump' is growing.

"I'm so terrified of becoming a mother, Maya," Riley confesses.

"Why? If there is anybody in this world that I know will be the most amazing mother, it would be you, Riles. You love kids so much. And those kids at the daycare center love you. You have compassion, love, care, and all the other characteristics you need to be the best mother," Maya replies.

Riley looks down at her tummy and places her hand gently on the bump, "I guess I just get afraid because unlike those kids at the daycare center, I have to actually raise this one. She or he is going to rely on Farkle and me for everything. It's kind of overwhelming when you think about it. I know it's kind of hard to understand now, but when you get pregnant with your first child, then you'll feel the same way."

"How does Farkle feel about becoming a dad?" Maya asks.

"He's really excited. And he's the best husband I could ever ask for. Farkle does everything for me, even when I don't ask him to. He rubs the bump without even thinking about it first. We could just be laying down in bed, watching a movie, and his hand rubs the bump," Maya notices how Riley's face is lit up because of Farkle. A lot of people thought that Riley and Farkle would never get together. They all thought that they would just remain best friends. Even Maya and Lucas thought they would never happen, but here they are. They are showing everybody how wrong they were. They are showing people the purity of a true relationship.

"My favorite thing that he does, though, is talk to the baby. He doesn't know that I hear him talking to the baby when he thinks I'm asleep. He's said some of the goofiest things, and he's said some of the most sweetest things. It makes me confident in him as a father," Riley explains.

"You're lucky to have someone like him, Riles. I wish I could find my own Farkle," Maya says.

Riley giggles, "You might have already."

"Don't be silly. The last real relationship I've had was with Lucas, and you know how badly that ended," Maya replies.

"You never know. He was an immature idiot in high school. I can tell, and you can tell, that's he's changed," Riley says. Maya nods in agreement, but she still isn't ready to take any steps with Lucas. She thought she was ready to after he put into the hospital after Tony attacked him after their charity boxing match.

"Anyway, even if it was Lucas, not everybody is meant to find their soulmate like you did with Farkle," Maya says.

"Do you think Lucas is your soulmate?"

"No. Our souls are nothing alike, but that's what attracted me to him. He kept me from hurting myself and hurting others. He was my moral compass. But everything doesn't always go the way you want it to. I got my hopes up, and I got hurt."

"I'm sorry, Maya. My heart broke for you after the both of you broke up. You're my bestest friend, and when you hurt, I hurt," Riley says.

Maya locks her arm with Riley's, and they walk back inside to join the rest of the party. When they walk in, they see the gigantic present sitting in the middle of Riley and Farkle's living room.

"You ready to see what we are having?" Farkle asks Riley. Riley smiles and nods, joining Farkle by the large gift box. Everybody had their phones out, ready to record what color balloons came out of the box. Sadie runs over to Maya and hugs her leg.

"You ready, Sadie?" Maya asks, picking Sadie up and placing her onto her hip. Sadie nods and lays her head onto Maya's shoulder.

Farkle and Riley count to three, and together, they open the box.

"It's a boy!" Everybody cheered and clapped. Sadie and Maya clapped and joined Farkle and Riley, who were wiping tears out of their eyes.

"I can't believe we're having a baby boy!" Farkle cries. Riley smiles at him and wraps her arms around him.

* * *

Maya is driving back to Lucas's penthouse. Lucas is sitting beside her, and Sadie is in the back seat, asleep. It was really late when they left Riley and Farkle's house, and it's almost a two hour drive back to the city. Maya offered to drive because Lucas had a couple of beers with Zay. He isn't drunk. He isn't even buzzed, but Maya didn't want to take that chance.

"I can't believe Riley and Farkle are having a baby together," Lucas says.

"Me either. I was thinking about how everybody thought they were the last people to get together, let alone get married and make a baby," Maya replies.

"I just hope I can find something like that again, and hopefully not mess it up like I did the first time," Lucas says.

Maya nods in agreement, "I know what you mean."

There was an awkward silence between them. So awkward, that they couldn't stand it.

Lucas turns in his seat to face her, "Please tell me that I'm not the only one feeling awkward. I don't know what it is bu-"

"I know exactly what it is," Maya says, "I told you that we couldn't pretend like that night didn't happen. We have to talk about it. It's the only way."

"Okay," Lucas agrees.

"Well. You know? Uh... Um... You know when you get blackout drunk, and you can't remember what you did the night before until you put the pieces together as to what happened, and then you eventually remember?" Maya asks.

Lucas nods, "Yea? I was going to ask you the same question, somewhat."

"Well, that's what kinda happened with me. When I realized what happened between us, I remembered what happened," Maya explains.

"The same thing happened to me," Lucas replies looking away from her.

There was another awkward silence. Maya presses the brake at a stoplight before sighing and turning to look at him.

"Look! There is no use in us acting this way about us having sex. We've had sex before, but in the circumstances of that night, we weren't together as a couple, and we were drunk. When I remembered what happened, yes, I felt weird about it, but I'll admit that it wasn't a bad weird. So there. I spoke about it. I got it off my chest. I feel a whole lot better," Maya sputters out quickly. She takes a breath and presses the accelerator when the light turns green.

"I was going to say the same thing," Lucas laughs.

Maya shakes her head, "Are we good now? Do you feel relieved? Because I feel relieved."

"Yes. I feel relieved too."

"Good. So, can I still sleep in your bed without things being weird?" Maya asks.

"Of course."

Lucas and Maya laugh at each other. Maya continues to drive while they talk about Riley and Farkle, Sadie, life, etc. They actually have a nice conversation where Tony and "she who shalt not be named" are brought up. It felt nice. They aren't drunk, they aren't crying, they aren't arguing. They are talking, and laughing, and joking.

Maya presses the accelerator at another green light.

Everything happened so fast. Everything went dark.

* * *

 _ **So? I hope y'all liked that chapter, and yes what happened at the end was supposed to happen that way. This will lead to a huge change some good, some bad for Maya and Lucas.  
**_

 _ **I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been so busy with personal and familial issues. I am trying my best to write everyday, but it's hard. I appreciate everybody who is being patient and still loving this story.**_

 _ **Love y'all!**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Hey guys! First, I would like to thank all of you who are still reading and reviewing my story. I love y'all to death. Second, I would like to thank all of you for understanding why I've been updating less frequently. I really appreciate all of your support.**_

 _ **I know y'all hate that I left off with a cliffhanger last time, but the cliffhanger just adds more drama to the story. Wait and see. (Sorry for the random flashback. Minor M for that part.)  
**_

 _ **Y'all want another plot twist?**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

* * *

Lucas opens his eyes. His vision is blurred, and his body is groggy and sore. He sees a few shadowed outlines move about his vision, but he doesn't pay any attention to it. He moves his hand to unbuckle himself from his seat, but his seat belt is stuck. He tries to look behind him to look at Sadie, but he can't get a good look. At this point, Lucas starts to panic.

"Sadie? Sadie! Are you awake! Maya! Maya, wake up!" Lucas yells, but the two girls are unconscious. He continues to pry his seat belt off of him. "C'mon!"

Lucas tries to move his leg, but it's stuck under the gnarled metal body of the vehicle. He curses out loud, and tries to move his leg, but it hurts.

"Maya! Wake up! Somebody help!" He yells.

A man runs over to the driver's side of the window where Maya is sitting. He opens the driver side door and looks at Lucas.

"Sir, I'm here to help you. My name is Noah. I already called the police It looks like the man who hit you took off," Noah explains. Lucas nods, still writhing in a lot of pain. Noah tries to unbuckle Maya from her seat, and he's successful.

"Please," Lucas begs, "You've got to help my daughter. She's in the back seat. She's unconscious, and I don't know why. Does she look okay? Please, tell me she's okay."

"I'll check on your daughter, right now," Noah says, climbing in the back seat getting beside Sadie. "What's your name?"

"Lucas. Lucas Friar," Lucas responds, trying to catch his breath. Noah struggles to loosen the grip of Sadie's seat belt. Lucas keeps trying to pulls at his seat belt. He keeps pulling and pulling until he's finally free. Now how is going to push back the metal that has his leg pinned down?

"What's your wife and daughter's names?" Noah asks.

"My daughter's name is Sadie. And this isn't my wife. She's my friend. Her name is Maya Hart," Lucas says, maneuvering his leg out of the metal, but he's pretty sure that his leg is broken. He groans loudly in pain but won't stop trying to get himself free.

"I'm sorry this happened to you, but the ambulance should be here soon. You should sit still until they can cut you free," Noah explains. Lucas doesn't even want to argue. This guy is trying to help him out, so he doesn't argue. He nods his head and takes deep breaths.

After what felt like hours of waiting, ambulances, a firetruck, and the police pull up to the scene. They all have their lights flashing. The men and women who climb out of the emergency vehicles rush over to the accident, ready to do their jobs quickly.

Noah climbs out of the back seat and a paramedic takes his place. The first thing she does is check Sadie's pulse and examine the gash on her forehead.

"I can't find a pulse. We have to get her to the hospital immediately," The woman says, and Lucas's panic level rises again.

"What! What's wrong with my daughter? Please, help her! Please!" Lucas yells.

"Sir, we will do our best. Your daughter is in the best care, but our priority right now is getting her out of here and to a hospital quick,' The woman responds. A man comes to the back seat and cuts Sadie out of her car seat. They make sure to pick her up gently enough to where they won't cause any more damage that they don't know about, but quick enough to get her on a stretcher. Lucas watches them take his daughter off on a stretcher to the back of an ambulance where other paramedics start doing chest compressions.

"Sir, your daughter is being taken care of, but we need your permission to go ahead and take her to the hospital-"

"Yes! Please, do whatever you need to to save her!" Lucas panics. The woman nods and goes with the ambulance that has his daughter in it.

Meanwhile, the paramedics pull Maya out from the driver seat and onto a stretcher. The firefighters have the cutters ready to perform the "Jaws of Life".

"Sir, we're going to cut the piece of metal away from your leg in order to get you out safely. If we get close to your leg then please let us know," The man says. Lucas nods and hears the tool go to work on the metal of the car that it pinning his leg down.

A paramedic sits in the driver seat and begins taking Lucas's vitals and looking at the wound on his face and arm. He checks his heartbeat, which is obviously racing, and he has another stretcher ready for when the firefighters get his leg free.

"Are you able to move your leg?" The firefighter asks.

Lucas, feeling the breeze of the missing metal, is able to move his leg. "Yes! Thank you so much!"

The stretcher is rolled over to Lucas's side of the car and help him onto the stretcher. They lay him down and look at his leg before they decide to put a splint on it. Another paramedic is shining a flashlight in his eyes.

"His pupils aren't reacting to the light. I think he may have a concussion," The paramedic says.

"Sir, can you tell me your date of birth?" Another paramedic asks.

Lucas is looking around, feeling like he's gonna vomit at anytime. He's really groggy and barely understands the question. The paramedics rush him to the back of an ambulance, and they take off. The paramedics in the back cut his shirt off and start sticking him with these heart monitor things. Lucas wants to close his eyes, but one of the paramedics taps on his shoulder.

"Sir, you've got to stay awake for us until we get you to the hospital, okay?" She asks. Lucas nods and looks at the roof of the ambulance. His heart is still racing, and he wonders if it will ever stop.

 _..._

 _Maya gripped Lucas's back as he thrust into her repeatedly. The sound of her sweet moans were melodic. Music to his ears. Something he could listen to for the rest of his life. Maya Hart was going to be the death of him. The way their bodies joined together felt magical, and there was no denying that they loved each other._

 _"Lucas! I'm about to-"_

 _"Me too, princess," Lucas responded with a loud moan. He gripped her thigh and thrusted faster.  
_

 _Her nails scratched long red trails down his back when she came. She moaned his name and brought her hips up to meet his as she rode through her high. This help Lucas come. He groaned and said her name like it gave life to him. He rode through his high and collapsed on top of Maya._

 _"That was-"_

 _"Amazing," Maya finished his sentence. Lucas agreed before pulling out of her and laying down beside her. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. She was tracing shapes on his abdomen._

 _Lucas watched her tiny fingers fiddle around on the skin on his chest. Every time he looked at her, his heart beat quickened. That was the effect he had on her. It wasn't something so scary anymore. But when he first met her, he was so scared. Maybe too scared._

 _"I love you," Lucas said._

 _"What?" Maya asked._

 _"I love you. I've known it for a long time now, but I didn't say anything yet, because I was scared that you might think we were moving too fast. But it's true. I am in love with you, Maya," Lucas answered._

 _Maya sat up and stared at him, a glint of hope shimmering in her bright blue eyes. Hope was something that looked good on her. She made something that you can't tangibly touch look amazing._

 _"You know," She began, "I never thought I would ever have a chance with a guy like you. You know me. 'Hope is for suckers.' Remember? But you surprised me. And I liked it. And you still surprise me. And I still like it."_

 _"Is that your way of telling me that you love me too?" Lucas asked._

 _Maya giggled. Another sound that she made that he could listen to for the rest of his life. "Yes."_

* * *

"How's my daughter? Is she okay?" Lucas asks.

"Mr. Friar, your daughter is still being treated for the injuries from the car accident. You have to know that her taking a hit like that and being as young as she is, that treating her and getting back to the parents will take longer. I really hate to give you that answer, but I will let you know any new developments," The doctor responded.

"Can you at least tell me if you revived her?" Lucas asks again.

The doctor sighs, "Yes. We were able to revive her, but it didn't last long. We had to revive her several times. Right now is a crucial time for both her and Ms. Hart. The best thing that you can do to help them right now is cooperate with us and trust us."

Lucas hates this, but he agrees and lets the doctor explain to him his injuries.

"I think it's important for you to know, first, that you have a severe concussion. We asked you information about the accident when you arrived at the hospital, and you couldn't tell us anything. You don't remember anything," The doctor begins.

"Wait, you asked me about what happened?" Lucas asks.

"Yes. Not only that, but you are sensitive to light. You complained about a headache and being dizzy. We are currently treating you for that. Your right leg, if you can't already tell, is broken in two different places. We are going to schedule a surgery to fix that, but you will begin physical therapy as soon as possible. We pulled shards of glass from your legs, arm, and head, which resulted in 88 stitches all together. You've had some internal bleeding, but all in all, I'd say you will make a full recovery," The explains.

"Thanks, doctor," Lucas says.

"Oh, and Lucas?" The doctor says before he leaves, "We took some blood and found that your blood alcohol concentration was .04%. I know that you weren't drunk nor were you driving, but the police might mention that."

Lucas nods, "Thanks."

A nurse walks in shortly after the doctor leaves and puts a needle filled with medication into his IV. "This is just a pain medication," She says.

And it's not long before he drifts off to sleep.

* * *

He is woken up by the doctor. He's must have slept for a few hours.

"Lucas? Mr. Friar? We have some news on your daughter," The doctor says. Lucas's heartbeat rises when he hears the doctor say this, but he is wide awake.

"It took us a very long time to stabilize your daughter. We thought that we would have to put her on life support due to how unstable she was, but we are happy to inform you that we don't need to do that," The doctor explains.

Lucas breaths a sigh of relief, but the doctor interrupts that. "However, she suffered a bad blow to the head. We removed shards of glass from her forehead and place 24 stitches in them. She has a broken arm and a broken leg, those of which have to be surgically repaired. She suffered from a lot of internal bleeding which was our first priority after getting her stable enough to breathe on her own. This will definitely take a toll on her physically and emotionally because she is only four years old. But we have to say that she is the luckiest person involved in the crash tonight."

"When can I go see her?" Lucas asks.

"Well, we're still running a couple of tests on her and on you as well, so as soon as we get that done for the both of you, then we will let you see her. She's one of the toughest kids I've ever seen," The doctor says.

"Thank you for everything, doctor. I am really appreciative," Lucas replies.

When the doctor leaves, Riley, Farkle, and Zay walk in to his room. "Hey."

"Hey," Lucas says back, not sure if feels like explaining what happened.

"We're so happy to see that you and Sadie are okay. I can't imagine what's going through your head right now," Riley says.

"Right now, I feel a little bit of relief, but I can't feel completely relieved until I know how Maya is doing. Have y'all heard anything?" Lucas asks.

Zay shakes his head, "Sorry, buddy. We tried to ask, but they won't give us any information unless we are immediate family."

"I hope she's okay."

* * *

Maya wakes up in the hospital bed. He neck is sore, her vision is blurry, and she can't remember what brought her here. She shields her eyes from the bright light and groans.

"Ms. Hart? Are you awake?" A nurse asks when she pokes her head in. Maya nods and the nurse begins to check her vitals.

"The doctor should be in at any moment to explain your injuries," The nurse says before there's a knock at the door. The doctor walks in and sets his clipboard down.

"Hello, Ms. Hart. I am happy to see that you are awake. You gave us quite a scare there. I'm just here to explain to you your injuries and the extent of how to repair them. I first want to let you know that Lucas and Sadie Friar are okay. I feel like you really wanted to know that. First thing I want to tell you is that you did suffer a major blow to the head. I think your head hit the steering wheel or maybe the airbag was too forceful, so we are putting you under a concussion protocol. We had to pull shards of glass from your head and arm that resulted in 24 stitches for both. You have a herniated disk in your neck, which again could be from the airbag or just from the impact. You have a dislocated shoulder You had some internal bleeding, but we know that you will make a full recovery. After a surgery on your herniated disk in your neck, you will go through some physical therapy for your neck and shoulder," The doctor explains.

Maya nods and the doctor adds something on. Something that he seems very hesitant to bring up, "Ms. Hart. Did you know that you are pregnant?"

Maya's eyes widen, and she sits up in shock. She shakes her head, "No. I didn't know that. Why?"

"We took a blood test. After finding out that Lucas had been drinking tonight, we had to take blood and run some tests, but when we did, we found out that you were pregnant," The doctor says.

"Oh."

That's all she could say.

* * *

 _ **Boom! Plot twist. Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. I know that I am dropping bombs on y'all left and right, but it's fun for me to write, and I know that it's fun for y'all to read. It only adds to the drama of the story, and it gives Maya's character more of an arc for this story. It's a new challenge that she has to go through.**_

 _ **Next chapter we will see Lucas finally be able to visit Sadie. Some more flashback. And Lucas and Maya get to talk.**_

 _ **Love y'all!**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Hey! I am so happy that y'all loved the last chapter! I know it may seem a little cliche, and I'm not really the type to (mostly) write cliche things, but I couldn't help it. I knew I wanted to make it happen, and I was trying to hint at in This is Growing Up and in some of the chapters this story, but I'm not sure how good of a job I did with that.**_

 _ **But anyway, I am so happy to read y'alls reviews and to see that y'all love what I'm doing with the story so far just makes me happy to write for y'all.**_

 _ **There will be some moments of confusion in this chapter about certain things that should be talked about, but I will address those in the story, soon.**_

 _ **I hope y'all enjoy this chapter.**_

* * *

A nurse comes into Lucas's room with a wheelchair. She hooks her arm underneath Lucas's and helps him sit down. She pushes him out into the hallway where Riley offers to push him to Sadie's room. The group follows the nurse to a room just a few doors down from Lucas's. The nurse stops in front of the door and turns around to the group.

"Before we walk in, I am obliged to tell you that Sadie is under a lot of pain medication. We want to keep her for a few days to watch her vitals where we did have to revive her multiple times, but we will keep her in a medically induced coma. Before you begin to panic, I will tell you that putting your daughter in the medically induced coma will be better for her in the long run with the pain," The nurse explains.

Lucas's heart nearly jumps out of his chest when he is pushed into the room that his daughter is in. In a medically induced coma. After being revived multiple times. Riley pushes him to her bedside where he can hold her hand. He looks at her physical wounds. The 24 stitches that started at the top left side of her forehead and went around to the bottom of her right ear. Her right arm and leg are both wrapped up in bright pink casts. She ironically looks peaceful, which Lucas is happy about, but he knows that she'll have a tough time with this when she wakes up.

The tears start flowing from his eyes. Thinking about how much his little girl has suffered tonight is giving him that heartbroken feeling inside his chest. He lays his head down on her bed, not able to look at his beautiful little girl in this situation anymore.

Riley lays her hand on Lucas's shoulder, and he knows that she's crying too because he can hear her sniffling. He knows that Farkle and Zay are crying too.

"I'm so sorry that this happened to you guys. If there was anything I could do to change it, then I would," Riley sniffles, leaning over into Lucas's ear.

"It's not your fault, Riley. It's not even Maya's fault. They call it a car 'accident' for a reason," Lucas reassures one of his best friends. She squeezes his shoulder before she completely stands up.

"Have any of you gone to see Maya, yet?" Lucas asks. Zay, Farkle, and Riley shake their heads in response. Lucas wipes away the last of the tears from his crying spell and sighs.

"I would go see her, but I can't leave Sadie right now. Can one of you, if you're able to, tell her that for me?" Lucas asks, getting a nod for a response from all three of them.

Riley walks out of the room, on the hunt to see her best friend.

* * *

Maya is sobbing into her pillow. Everything that's happened tonight is overwhelming for her. She tries to steady her crying and breathing by taking a few deep breaths and wiping her tears away. It takes her couple of minutes to settle down and take in everything that's happened tonight.

Someone knocks on the door before making her voice recognizable, "Maya?" Riley Matthews-Minkus pokes her head into the blonde's room. She notices the tears on her best friend's face and steps in, shutting the door behind her.

"Peaches," Riley says with sympathy in her voice, "I am so sorry. I feel like you can't catch a break."

Maya nods, trying to hold back more tears. Riley is the one person whom Maya really needs to see right now. She trusts Riley with everything, and she knows that she can't tell Lucas about what news she got because he needs to be focused on Sadie and on himself.

"You look like you could really use a hug," Riley says. Maya nods, beginning her new crying spell.

Riley's trying to be strong for her friends, tonight. But seeing Lucas worried about Sadie, and seeing Sadie's condition, and now seeing how heartbroken her best friend is, makes it difficult. She notices the sling on Maya's arm and the row of stitches in her other arm and forehead before gently wrapping her arms around her best friend. Maya sobs into Riley's comforting form.

"You want to talk to me? Tell me what's on your mind?" Riley asks.

"I've scarred Lucas and Sadie's lives forever," She says, "Sadie almost died, tonight. Lucas got seriously hurt. All because of me. If I had only seen that stupid car a split second earlier!"

Riley rubs Maya's back in support. "Don't say that, Maya. This is not your fault. You can even ask Lucas. He said that it wasn't your fault. He's not mad at you. He's actually worried about you. That's why I am here. To let you know that he doesn't hold you responsible for the accident. And to find out how you are."

"I don't know what to tell you. I know I'm going to be fine, but right now? I feel horrible. I feel overwhelmed..." Maya pauses, glancing at Riley's pregnant belly. "Can I tell you something? And you have to swear to me that you won't tell Lucas or Farkle or Zay or your mom or anybody."

Riley's eyebrow furrows in confusion. "Now I'm starting to worry."

"When the doctor came in here to tell me about my condition. He said that he took blood from me. They thought that I was drinking because Lucas had alcohol in his system. But, of course, they didn't find any alcohol. They found something else, instead," Maya says.

"Well? What was it?" Riley asks, nervous to hear the answer. She's afraid that they found something serious like cancer.

"Swear to me that you won't tell anybody?" Maya asks.

Riley holds up her right hand, "Ring power."

Maya is very hesitant to say this, but she has to. She can't keep this a secret from everybody for a long time. Obviously she can't keep it a secret at all because her belly will look like Riley's eventually.

"The doctor told me that when they ran the blood test, they saw that my HCG levels were up-"

"Oh my gosh!" Riley squeals. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but I couldn't hold in my excitement. Maya, you're gonna have a baby!"

Maya shushes Riley, and Riley apologizes again. "Look. You can't tell Lucas. You can't tell anybody. I'm not ready to tell him. Plus, the doctors are running tests to see if I lost the baby because of the accident."

Riley's excitement drops. Thinking that there could be a chance that Maya lost her unknown unborn child in the car accident actually twisted the knife that was already stinging her chest.

"Okay," Riley agrees, "I won't say anything to anybody. Ring power."

"Thank you."

* * *

 _Lucas walked up to the scene that happened in the middle of the hallway at Abigail Adams High School. Two girls were arguing, not even caring that there was a group of people circled around them watching them. Lucas recognized one of the girls as his girlfriend, Maya Hart.  
_

 _"Why are you bothering me? I haven't done anything to you," Maya asked._

 _"I know you've been talking shit behind my back. That's why I am bothering you. You think it's funny to make fun of other people without them knowing?" The other girl, identified as Kaitlyn Massey, said._

 _"I have better things to do in my life that don't involve me talking about you," Maya replied as she tried to walk away. Kaitlyn grabbed Maya's shoulder and flung her around. Lucas moved his way to the front of the crowd and stood behind Maya. He grabbed Maya's hand and squeezed it._

 _"Oh, look," Kaitlyn began. "Lucas Friar here to defend his so-called girlfriend. Too bad you can't think about anybody but yourself. Do I really need to explain to Maya what happened between us?"_

 _Lucas's heart began to beat faster. He knew that something bad was about to happen. Maya let go of his hand and turned around to look at him._

 _"What is she talking about?" Maya asked. Lucas felt the pressure of everybody's eyes staring at him. They all wanted to know what happened, but he didn't want to tell everybody._

 _"Tell her, Lucas! Tell her about how you got drunk at that party three months ago when she was sick. Tell her about how you found your way to my room. Tell her about how you and I slept together that night. Tell her in full detail. And add in the part where you didn't wear a condom and got me pregnant," Kaitlyn kept egging Lucas on.  
_

 _Maya turned around too look at Kaitlyn. She took two steps forward and slapped the girl across the face, which earned her an entertained reaction from the crowd. She then turned back around to Lucas. He tried to think of something to say. He opened his mouth, ready to say something, but nothing would come out. Before he could finally say what he wanted to say, Maya brought her hand up to slap him across the face too._

 _Lucas turned around and watched as the blonde walked away from the crowd to the front doors of the school. He watched Riley and Farkle run after her. He glanced at Kaitlyn, who had a big smile on her face._

 _That was the second time Maya Hart changed his life._

 _..._

"Can't sleep either?"

Lucas turns his head to the same blonde standing at the door. He breathes a sigh of relief and agrees with her. Maya walks into the room and sits down in a chair next to him at Sadie's bedside.

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep at all until she wakes up," Lucas admits. Maya nods and leans back in her chair. "I'm happy to see that you're okay."

"I'm happy to see that you're okay, too," Maya says, "I'm really sorry about this. This night really sucks."

Lucas holds onto Sadie's hand again, caressing her fingers with his thumb, "It's not your fault. I hope you know that. What happened to Sadie, wasn't your fault."

"I know," Maya sniffles, "I just can't help but take responsibility for the whole thing. We wouldn't even be here right now. We would be back at your penthouse, asleep, probably."

"I know it's hard to accept. It's still hard for me to accept, but I know that Sadie is going to be okay. The doctor said that since she's still breathing on her own after doing it for this long, then she will more than likely be okay. I just don't want to leave her side," Lucas says.

Maya nods, "I know. Riley told me everything. And I kind of figured that out anyway. I would actually be mad at you if you weren't in here."

"So, are you okay? What happened to your arm?" Lucas asks.

"My shoulder dislocated. They told me to wear this sling for a two weeks and see if it will heal better and not be as sore. I have a herniated disk in my neck that has to be surgically repaired..." Maya says looking at the stitches on her arm, the stitches on Lucas's arm, forehead, and leg, and the stitches on Sadie's arm and face.

"I see all of us have quite a bit of stitches," She says.

Lucas looks, "Yea. We sure do."

They look at each other. Maya scoots her chair closer and leans her head on Lucas's shoulder, hoping that she isn't causing him any more pain than she already has.

"It's gonna be a long recovery road."

* * *

 _ **Okay! Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter. I know it's not as exciting as the past few chapters, but this will all come together.**_

 _ **I will be dropping another bomb on the characters in the next couple of chapters. I'm not sure if it will be the next chapter or what, but just be on the look out for that.**_

 _ **Love y'all!**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Hi! I just wanted to start off by saying that I freaking love all of you who read my stories and love them. I am very appreciative of each and every one of you. I write because I love to create things, but it's so fulfilling to see that so many of you love my creations. (Or in this case, the plot. Not the characters)**_

 _ **Remember what I said last chapter? I will be dropping, yet another, bomb on the characters. I hope y'all will love it (I mean you'll probably hate it, but you'll love it at the same time).**_

 _ **Anyway, I am gonna make this chapter a lot more light-hearted. Because it can't be angsty the whole time.**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

* * *

Lucas is ready to have surgery on his leg, today. He wishes that it could be a different time because Sadie is still in her coma. But Maya has crossed her heart to him that she will won't leave Sadie's side while he's in surgery. The three of them have been in the hospital for four days. Maya has already had surgery on her neck, and even though she is still in pain, she promised Lucas that she would stay with Sadie while he has surgery on his leg.

Maya looks at Sadie and sees so much of Lucas's features. Her eyes are the same color as his. Her cute little nose is the same as his. She looks so much like him, which makes Maya happy. She would still love Sadie, though, if she looked like her mother. Sadie is just one of those children that you can't help but love no matter what. Maya knows, too, that she will love her child the same way.

"Hey there, kid," Maya tells Sadie. "I hope you don't remember anything bad that has happened to you when you wake up. You are such a sweetheart, I don't want you to live a painful and struggled life. You deserve so much better than this, and I can't help but take the blame for what happened to you. I know that your face will scar, and you will have scars on you arm and chest from this, but you know what? You will still turn out to be one of the most beautiful girls to ever walk the planet."

Maya fights back tears. She grabs Sadie's hand.

"I haven't told anybody this, but Riley. And I feel like telling her didn't help this huge weight on my chest. So maybe if I tell you now, I will feel better. I hope you're ready to have a little brother or sister. I know how you've been begging your daddy to give you a little brother or sister, but he's been too afraid to tell you where babies come from. Even though, I'm pretty sure you know since you've been watching all those soap operas with your grandma."

Maya giggles. She would be lying if she said that she and Sadie don't watch soap operas whenever Lucas went off to the gym.

"I am so scared to tell your daddy. I am even more scared to tell you when you wake up. So if you're upset about this news, whenever I decide to tell you, I hope you don't hate me," She says.

"She would never hate you, Maya," Topanga stands at the door with Riley.

"Mrs. Matthews!" Maya says, shocked. "How long were you standing there? How much did you hear?"

Topanga smiles and walks over to hug Maya, "Don't worry, Maya. I heard everything, but I won't tell Lucas. I know that you want him to hear this news from you, and I respect that."

Maya sighs in relief as Topanga continues. "I am so happy to hear that you guys are gonna be alright. Riley scared us when she called. Where's Lucas?"

"He's having surgery on his leg. It was broke in two different places, so it should take an hour or so."

"When are you planning on telling him that you're pregnant?" Topanga asks.

"I don't know. I'm still shocked by the news. I just want to wait until all of this blows over, and we get to leave this place," Maya says. "But I also want to tell him now, just to get it over with. I am terrified of his response."

"Oh, Maya. I can tell you right now that Lucas will be ecstatic to hear that you and him are gonna have a baby..." Riley says. "Unless, you don't want to keep it?"

"I don't know. That's another thing I'll have to talk to Lucas about. He might not want it-"

"What do you want?" Riley asks.

Maya shakes her head, "I don't know either. It's still news to me. I haven't planned anything out. I am so confused about what I want. Would be so bad to say that I am going crazy because of it?"

"No, sweetie," Topanga says. "You're reacting the way any woman who just found out about an unplanned pregnancy normally does. Don't feel bad about anything you decide to do with the baby. Whatever you choose, you have us to support you, as well as Cory, Farkle, Shawn. Everybody."

"She's right, Maya. Whatever you decide to do, we're right here for you. Whatever you need. But if you need help thinking about what to do, just imagine the both of us being pregnant at the same time. And our babies growing up and being best friends. What if they get married? I mean there are so many positive things to look at about this too," Riley says.

Maya smiles. She does think it would be cool for her baby and Riley's baby to be best friends.

"And if you're worried about Lucas? Don't be. Lucas loves you to death. Right after that cutie, of course," Topanga says, pointing at Sadie. "But that should be a good thing for you to remember about him. Lucas loves and protects Sadie with everything that he has. He will do the same thing for you and your baby. I don't have a doubt."

Maya just hopes they are right.

* * *

Lucas wakes up in the recovery room. He moves his cover down to look at his leg, but he can't see a scar due to the bandages wrapped around it. He covers himself back up. The doctor walks into the room with his clipboard, looking over Lucas's medical records. And behind the doctor, his best friend, Zay, and his agent, Nick.

"Nice to see you awake, Mr. Friar," The doctor greets him. Zay and Nick wait in the hallway. "Your surgery went very well. There were no complications, which was perfect."

The doctor hands him pictures of the bone before and after the surgery, "We just went in there and placed the two separated parts back to the bone. We put a metal plate in there so the bone would hold together. You will be sore for a few weeks, and it will take a few weeks of physical therapy to help the soreness and to just help you recover faster. Until then, we want you to relax, and we hope to have you, your daughter, and Ms. Hart back home in a matter of a week."

"Do you know when you want to bring my daughter out of her coma?" Lucas asks.

"Well we've seen a lot of progress from her, so we are already beginning to wain her off the pain medication, this will take a few days because she's on a couple strong ones, but she is recovering beautifully, and she should be awake in the next forty-eight to seventy-two hours. If you have anymore questions, you can ask your nurse, and we will have you back up to your floor in about an hour or two."

"Thanks, doctor. Thank you for everything. Taking care of my daughter, taking care of Maya, and taking care of me. I am very appreciative," Lucas says.

The doctor smiles, "It's my job," he says before he walks out of the room.

"That's awesome to hear, Lucas," Zay says, walking into the recovery room with Nick.

"That is very nice to hear," Nick says. "I saw what happened to you on the news, and I'm not gonna lie, I was really scared. I've represented you for years. I know how much you love Sadie, and I know how much you love Maya. I can't even imagine how you felt."

"I honestly can't remember what happened. I remember Maya and I were talking on the way home from Riley and Farkle's, and then I remember waking up in the hospital. The doctor said that all three of us had severe blows to the head, and we've all been put under a concussion protocol," Lucas says.

"Well it's nice to know that you have the best care. Have you soaked all of this in yet?" Nick asks.

"No way," Lucas replies. "Why do you ask?"

"It's all over the news. I just thought I should tell you because there are tons of reporters trying to sneak their ways in here to ask you questions. I would do something to appease all of them, but I need your permission before I can do anything. I know it won't be any fun for you, Maya, and Sadie if you have to attempt to leave the hospital in a mob of people," Nick says.

"Yea. Tell the media that I want some privacy for the next few months. I need to speak to my lawyer about whether or not I should give you permission to talk about Sadie and Maya because you know the whole deal with Kaitlyn. She will have a field day with this when we go to court. And we need Maya's permission too. But please tell them that I would like some privacy for the next few months, and tell them that I will be okay. Tell them that I will be recovering according to doctor's schedule, so I don't know anything about boxing. If you want to add anything, then go ahead," Lucas says.

Nick is typing this up on his cellphone as Lucas tells him what to say.

"Great. I'm gonna talk to the executives about this, and I will get back to you soon," Nick says before he waves goodbye to Lucas and Zay.

"Wow," Zay sighs. "You guys are all over the news. Do you know if Kaitlyn has shown up to see if Sadie is okay?"

Lucas shakes his head and says, "She hasn't even tried to call the hospital to see if Sadie is okay. But she wants a court to decide if she should get custody of her. The woman is unbelievable. I just hope they don't pin this accident on me when we go to court."

"I think you should just worry about your recovery and Sadie's recovery. I mean, she was the one who was hurt the most in the accident. She's gonna need her father to support her when she wakes up. The trial isn't for another couple of months. You have plenty of time to recover and try to get your life and her life back together," Zay explains.

"You're right. I need to go back to her room. I need to be there for her," Lucas agrees. He presses a button that triggers a noise outside of his room so that his nurse knows that he needs her assistance. It isn't long at all before his nurse walks in with her clipboard.

"How can I help you, Mr. Friar?" She asks.

"When can I go back to see my daughter?"

* * *

Riley Matthews-Minkus helps a groggy Maya back to Sadie's room, where Topanga waits for them. Maya really had to use the bathroom. Lucas's surgery took longer than she thought it would take, and she had been holding in piss for an hour.

"Thanks, honey," Maya says.

"Anytime, peaches," Riley replies and helps Maya sit in her chair beside Sadie's bed. The three women are quiet. They know Lucas should be back anytime soon, so they wait for him.

After half an hour of waiting, they hear a knock on the door, and Zay is the person pushing Lucas through the door. Riley and Topanga smile and go to give him and Zay hugs.

"How's your leg?" Topanga asks.

"It feels fine, for now. The doctor said I will feel sore for the next couple of weeks, but they're gonna start me on a physical therapy regime tomorrow. I just needed to get back here, so that I can be with Sadie," Lucas replies.

Topanga seems hesitant to ask Lucas if he cares to talk about how this will affect the case, but she needs to fill him in on the situation as quick as possible.

"I know the trial is the last thing you want to talk about right now, but as your lawyer I feel like I need to fill you in on how this accident will affect your case. I got both yours and Sadie's medical reports from the last few days, and it does say that your blood alcohol level was enough to get drunk off of. They will try to use that against you in the trial, and they will even try to say that Maya was drunk. I have already gotten in contact with the officer who filled out the accident report, and I will try to get those reports from him," Topanga explains.

"Okay. Anything else I should know?" Lucas asks.

"I think that's it for now. I will fill you in on anymore information that I gather," Topanga says. She tells everybody goodbye and leaves the hospital.

"Well. Now what do we do?" Riley asks.

"We wait," Lucas replies.

* * *

Farkle walks into Sadie's hospital room after a long day at his new job. He sees that Lucas, Maya, and Zay are all asleep, and Riley is standing at the window, staring at the city. Farkle walks up behind Riley and places his hands on her small bump.

"Hey, boss man," Riley teases. "How was your day at work?"

"It was fine, but it's not as fun without you and the kids there. I just had to go over the amount the company owes in taxes. And then I had to look for new people to fill in some vacant job spots. That's what took me so long," Farkle explains. "How is everybody?"

"Well. Lucas and Maya are anxious to see Sadie wake up, and Zay is being the best at being best friend," Riley explains, earning a chuckle from her husband.

"Would you two get a room?" Maya asks teasingly. This causes Riley to jump, not knowing that her best friend is awake.

"I thought you were asleep," Riley says.

"I can't sleep. I won't be able to sleep," Maya replies. "What about you, Lucas?"

"Nope," Lucas replies.

"It's possible to know someone too well," Farkle jokes. Maya rolls her eyes but smiles at her goofy friend.

Lucas sits up from his position and sighs. He grabs Sadie's hand and kisses it.

"Whenever you want to wake up, sweetheart. Take your time," He whispers, letting go of her hand. He lays his head back down on her bed. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

* * *

It doesn't feel like a long time for him, but he wakes up to someone gently shaking his head. The first person he sees is Maya with the biggest smile on her face. He hears the voices of Riley and Farkle.

Then he hears the sweetest voice of all.

"Daddy? Are you awake?"

Lucas sits straight up at this point and is overwhelmed with joy. Seeing is baby girl awake and talking to him, her hand shaking his head, it makes him want to scream because he's so happy.

"Sadie!" Lucas cheers. He gently wraps his arms around her, making sure he doesn't hurt her. Lucas doesn't want to let go of her. A few days ago he was so afraid that he would never get to hug his daughter again. Now, she's awake, and she's talking to him. Lucas glances at Riley and Farkle. They both have tears in their eyes.

He pulls away from Sadie and lets Maya hug her too.

"We're so happy to see that you're awake, Sadie," A nurse, who has just entered the room, says.

Sadie looks at her dad and smiles. That girl can make a bad situation into a good one. And that is something that Lucas and Maya need right now. A little ray of sunshine.

"Daddy? Maya? Are y'all okay? Why are y'all crying?" She asks.

"We've just missed you, that's all," Lucas says. "I love you so much."

* * *

 _ **Alright! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I hope that last part was really sweet.**_

 _ **Next chapter will be more informational, but in a good way...and a bad way. (Of course)**_

 _ **Ready for another bombshell?**_

 _ **Love y'all!**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Hey y'all! I love y'all so much! I don't have much to say right now except that I hope y'all love this chapter. A bunch of stuff will be revealed in this chapter. It's so good.**_

 _ **This is shorter chapter.**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

* * *

Lucas puts the last of his and Sadie's things into a small bag that Riley had brought for them while they were staying in the hospital. He's finally walking around in a cast and a boot, which is good for him because Sadie will need a lot of help now that she's finally getting out of the hospital today.

Maya and Riley were at Lucas's penthouse decorating the place as a surprise for Sadie. After she had the idea to surprise Lucas when he got out of the hospital after his fight against Tony, Lucas asked Maya, Riley, Farkle, and Zay if they could do the same for Sadie.

Maya is helping Riley hang up a banner in the living room. She reaches up to tack the banner to the wall, and Riley helps her down.

"Careful, mama," Riley says, earning a sarcastic 'very funny' look from Maya. "So, you still haven't told Lucas about the baby yet?"

"Nope. I want to wait until Sadie is home for a few days, and we get back to a normal routine," Maya explains.

"That's impossible for the two of you. With everything going on with Sadie's baby mama, and you still trying to recover from Tony. It's like chaos is drawn to the two of you," Riley rambles on, and Maya stops listening. She knows that, here recently, she hasn't been able to have a proper, routine-filled day. She knows that chaos isn't drawn to the both of them. It's drawn to her. Sadie and Lucas were fine without her. They were happy. Now, Maya's having a baby that Sadie and Lucas might not even want, and she feels the effect of her anxiousness begin to take a toll.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Maya says, covering her mouth and rushing to the bathroom.

After cleaning herself up from her morning sickness, Maya looks at herself in the mirror.

"I've been so selfish," She tells herself. "I've invaded their space, messed up their routine, got them hurt. They don't need someone like me to keep them down. I need to leave. I'm nothing but bad luck to them. Worthless."

Tony's words come rushing back to her, and all those months that Lucas spent making her not feel those words went to waste. But Maya takes a deep breath and walks back outside to the others.

"Hey, you okay?" Riley asks.

Maya nods. "It was just morning sickness. Mixed with a little bit of guilt sickness."

"Guilt sickness? What in the world is that?"

Maya sighs. "I just realized that I have completely changed Sadie's and Lucas's lives, and it's not for the better. They were living a normal life with a normal routine until Lucas and I started to reconnect. Then everything with Tony happened, and I just invaded their home. Now, Lucas is bringing Sadie home after a month of staying in the hospital because of an accident that I caused. And I'm pregnant, and I'm terrified that Lucas and Sadie are going to hate the baby and me and kick me out, and I don't think I'll be able to handle that."

"Aww, Peaches! C'mere, you poor little thing," Riley says, wrapping her arms around her best friend. "You didn't ruin Lucas's and Sadie's lives. Lets sit down."

Riley and Maya go to a private room and sit down on the bed.

"Lucas and Sadie will never hate you. Lucas has never stopped loving you. I can't tell you how tore up he was after you broke up with him. He came over to my house a month after it happened and told me that losing you was the worst thing he has ever done. And when Lucas started dropping Sadie off at the daycare center, he couldn't stop talking about you. Besides me, his mother, and his daughter, you are the only other woman that Lucas wants in his life. But his love for you is different than his love for me and his mom and his daughter. It didn't change then, and it hasn't changed now," Riley explains.

Maya nods but still can't help that painful feeling she has in her chest.

"And Sadie. Sadie talked about you everyday when she started coming to the daycare center. She would tell us about a ballet move that you taught the class, and she would tell us how beautiful she thought you was explaining the dance. She wants to be just like you. She wants you to be that mother figure in her life. Don't worry about 'she who shalt not be named' because she's a horrible mother. It'll be easy to tell that to a judge. Sadie loves you to death, Maya. I think she would be the heartbroken one if you leave them," Riley finishes.

Maya nods again. She doesn't know if it's the hormones that's already taking a toll on her or what, but she feels a whole lot better now. But hearing that from Riley won't be enough. She knows that she needs to talk to Lucas.

* * *

Lucas and Sadie arrive home from the hospital. All the people from Sadie's ballet class and a few friends from daycare are there and are excited that Sadie is okay. Zay's daughter, Tia, is also there to welcome her friend home. Sadie is completely surprised and super happy that she gets to celebrate a nice homecoming with her family and friends.

Sadie is playing around with her friends like she didn't just get out of the hospital, and it amazes Lucas how resilient she is. He feels so blessed that he is able to bring his little girl home after the trauma her body has just been through. He feels like he could cry, but he fights back his emotions and wonders where Maya is.

He looks around the penthouse when he finally finds her in his room.

"Hey," He greets. "Are you okay?" Maya turns to look at him and shrugs. Lucas turns around and shuts the door before he limps over to her and holds her hands.

"What's the matter?"

"I have something I need to tell you, and I don't know how you're gonna react. But if I don't tell you soon, then I'm gonna lose my mind," Maya explains.

"Well, what is it?" Lucas asks.

"The day after the accident was the day that I woke up in the hospital. I was so scared when the doctor came in because I was scared that he was going to tell me that you and Sadie didn't make it. I prayed to God that you two were okay. But when he was going through my list of injuries, he told me something that actually took me by surprise. Something that I had no idea about," Maya begins.

"Are you okay? What's going on?"

"I'm fine. I promise," Maya says. And here is the part that makes her stomach churn in anxiousness. "The doctor had to take some blood from me and run some tests, and when he came to tell me my results he told me that I am pregnant."

Like ripping a band-aid off, this really hurt Maya to just spit out like that, but she knows that she needs to do this. She can't hide this from Lucas. Lucas has been so kind and giving to her, she can't betray him by keeping a secret about his child.

Lucas's face immediately turns to shock. His coral green eyes grew wide, and his jaw dropped. This, to him, is definitely the same reaction he had when Kaitlyn told him that she was pregnant with Sadie. He looks past her face and stares at the wall.

"Lucas? Did you hear me?" Maya asks, waving her hands in front of his face.

He is brought out of his thoughts and nods. He takes a seat on his bed and brings Maya with him, still holding on, tightly, to her hands.

"Well? What do you have to say? If you hate me, then I get it. I will pack my things and go to Riley's house. I don't want to be a burden on you and Sadie. I am so sorry I didn't tell you earlier, I was just scared, and I didn't know how I was going to tell you," Maya explains.

"I don't hate you. I don't want you to pack up your things and leave. You aren't a burden. I am just a little bit shocked," Lucas starts to explain. "I know that you didn't do this on purpose, it happened, and now we're gonna have a baby. I don't know about you, but I think that's the most exciting thing since I became Sadie's father."

"Really? You don't hate me? What about Sadie? Will she hate me?"

"Pssh! Are you kidding? She's been begging me to give her a little brother or sister. She will be so excited," Lucas says.

The pain in Maya chest turns to a warmth of joy. She should've known that Lucas would be okay with this. She should've known that Sadie will be okay with this.

"I can't believe I'm gonna be a dad again. But this time, it's with the woman I love," Lucas says.

Maya rolls her eyes and smiles. "Don't get all cheesy on me, Huckleberry."

Lucas presses his lips to Maya, and he squeezes her hands. They pull away and giggle and go in for another kiss, until Lucas's cellphone rings. Maya pulls away so Lucas can reach his phone. He doesn't recognize the number but answers it anyway.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Mr. Lucas Friar?" The male over the phone asks.

"Yes, sir. It is."

"This is officer Jack Goldman. I was the officer who wrote up the report of your car accident. I was looking a few things with the car, the location of the accident, and I found something odd," Officer Goldman begins.

"Okay? What was so odd about it?"

"When I inspected the location of the car accident and the area around the location, I found that there were some precautions that could have been taken before hand that wouldn't have resulted in a car accident. I'll start with the car of the person who hit you. The car itself was abandoned, so the driver who hit you committed a hit and run. The way that the car was turned and the other damage to the car after it hit your vehicle shows that the driver did accelerate his speed when running a red light. Also, when we ran the car through the registry, we saw that the car came back stolen," The officer explains.

"So what does that mean?"

"My partners and I looked at the tape from the stop light at the location of the accident, and we saw that the behavior of the man who took off was suspicious. He looked almost, satisfied. The driver that hit your car, hit your car on purpose. They intentionally wanted to cause an accident of that magnitude, and that's why the accident was so bad."

"Do you know who did it?"

"Yes, after a long day of facial recognition test, we got the result that driver of the other car was a Mr. Anthony Espinoza. Does that name sound familiar to you?"

Lucas nods.

* * *

 _ **Boom! Another bombshell! I hope y'all liked this chapter. I knew I was gonna bring Tony back into the story somehow, and I thought what better way than to make him be the driver of the other car that almost killed Sadie?**_

 _ **I will go more into this in the next chapter, and we should be starting the trial for the custody battle soon.**_

 _ **Love y'all!**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**Hi! Like always, I am so happy that you all love my story and continue to read it and are so into it. I knew that I wanted to bring Tony back into the story in an interesting way. Lets just say that he isn't brought back for a long time, though. It's obvious as to why he won't be apart of the story too much longer.**_

 _ **I hope y'all enjoy this chapter!**_

 _ **WARNING: The beginning is a bit graphic.**_

* * *

Maya wakes up on a table in a room where the only source of light is the one hanging from the ceiling, shining brightly in her eyes. Her skin is soaked in her own sweat, and her breathing is heavy and ragged. Her vision is blurry, but she can hear the voice of people in the room with her.

She looks down and sees that her arms and legs are tied down. Her stomach is cut open, and the people in the room with her are laughing.

"She's awake!" A woman says as she rushes over to the operating table with a man. Maya begins to freak out and tries to break free from her restraints. She opens her mouth to yell for help, but nothing comes out.

The male doctor violently pushes her shoulders against the operating table. "Sit still!" he yells. Maya can feel the tears prick her eyes.

"What are you even doing here?" The woman asks. "Lucas doesn't need you. Sadie definitely doesn't need you. Your own best friend doesn't even need you. If I were chop you up right here, right now, they wouldn't miss you. They'd probably be happy that I did it."

Maya's wrists are now bleeding from how hard she's trying to get loose from her arm restraints.

"Do you not know how to sit still!" The woman yells, pushing her back on the operating table again.

The woman takes her surgical mask off. Maya is stunned when she sees that one of the doctors is Kaitlyn Massey. Maya hears the male doctor laugh and is stunned again when he takes his surgical mask off, revealing himself to be Tony Espinoza.

"Don't waste your time on her. I made that mistake in high school," Another doctor enters the room and says. Maya can tell just from the voice and the timeline of his sentence that the other doctor is Lucas. Lucas walks over to the operating table and looks at Maya.

"Look at you," He says, pushing her blonde locks out of her face. He caresses his thumb against her forehead. "So helpless. Like always. So pathetic."

He walks around to the part of the table where the top of her head meets. He grips both sides of her head and forces her to watch Tony grab a scalpel.

"Say night night, sweetheart," Kaitlyn laughs.

* * *

"Maya! Maya!"

Lucas's voice brings Maya out of her nightmarish slumber. Like her dream, she wakes up with heavy and ragged breathing, skin soaked in sweat, and a rapid heartbeat.

"Are you okay?" Lucas asks, wrapping his arms around her and bringing her into his warm embrace.

"I am now," She mumbles.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Lucas? Do you think I was a waste of time when we dated in high school? Am I ruining yours and Sadie's lives? Cause if I am, then I want you to tell me. Don't lie to me. If I'm making things difficult for you two, then I'll leave," Maya rambles.

"You're a crazy woman if you think that you're ruining mine and Sadie's lives," Lucas starts. He sits up and places his leg underneath him. "I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that you've been messing everything up since you've been apart of our lives again. You think that stuff with Tony wouldn't have happened. The stuff with Kaitlyn wouldn't have happened. The car accident wouldn't have happened. But that's all in your head. Tony still would've been my opponent. Kaitlyn still would've filed for custody. And the car accident still probably would've happened. You know what you're not thinking about?"

Maya shakes her head. Lucas smiles at her and answers her. "I probably wouldn't have Sadie if it weren't for you. I know how this sounds now but listen. I struggled taking care of her when she was a baby. I know my parents were around to help, but you know how much pride I have to ask them for help. If you wouldn't have helped me with her, then I probably would've given her to a family who actually knew how to take care of her."

"Lucas, don't say stuff like that. You did just fine with her when she was a baby," Maya mumbles.

"I wouldn't have if you weren't there to teach me," Lucas says back. "Listen to Sadie now. She loves you. She talks about you all the time when you aren't around. She's told me that she wants you to be her mother. I hope hearing that from me will change your perspective on it."

Maya nods. She knows that her own thoughts are driving her insane, and she knows that her thoughts are insane. But she can't help but feel some truth to them. This isn't new to Maya. She felt like it was her fault that her father left her mother and her when her father told her that it wasn't her fault. It's in Maya's nature to automatically take the blame for everything wrong that happens. But Lucas's "pep talk" did help her clear thoughts out of her head.

"Thank you, Lucas. Sorry for waking you up in the middle of the night," She apologizes.

"It's okay. It's not like I've got to be up early for anything. I'm on medical leave until my leg heals," Lucas says.

"So, are you gonna retire from boxing or no? I know you said that you were going to after your match with Tony, but you still haven't done it," Maya says.

"I know I haven't. I was going to call Nick a few months ago and tell him to set something up for me to address that. But then Kaitlyn came back, and I need the money. I have to pay Topanga, and I have to take care of us. I'll probably doing this while I go back to school," Lucas replies. He lays back down with Maya in arms.

"Well I hope that your happy with whatever you do. Your kids don't want daddy to be unhappy," Maya says.

Lucas's hand drifts down to Maya's belly and rubs it. "As long as you and my kids love me then I'll be the happiest man on the planet."

"What to you hope the baby is going to be? Do you want a boy this time?"

Lucas yawns. "You know what? I don't think it really matters to me what the baby will be. I will love him or her with every fiber of my being."

"How cliche of you to say," Maya teases. "But very sweet."

They lay in silence next to each other and fall asleep.

* * *

"Okay, Ms. Hart, we are happy to tell you that we have Mr. Espinoza in custody..."

Lucas listens to the officer talk to Maya through the speaker on her phone. Riley is listening in from a chair in the living room where the whole gang is sitting at.

"Thank you, officer. That is great news for us," Maya replies. She says goodbye to the officer and hangs her phone up. She hides her face in her hands and cries.

"Maya? What's wrong?"

"I'm just so happy that he's put away. I feel like I don't need to be tortured by his psychotic mind anymore," Maya replies, wiping a tear away from her cheek.

"Everything seems to be turning around for you two," Farkle says. "I guess a congratulations are in order."

"Riley! You can't keep a secret to save your life," Maya fusses.

"Well, I figured that since you already told Lucas that it was okay to tell Farkle," Riley replies.

Maya laughs. "It's okay. It's not like I can hide a secret like that anyway. There's only one person that I need to tell now. And she's one of the most important people I need to tell.

"Do you want to do it now?" Lucas asks.

"Are you ready to? I'm ready to," Maya replies. Lucas nods and calls Sadie to the living room. She prances downstairs and stands at the end of the couch where Lucas is sitting.

"C'mere squirt," Lucas says, pulling Sadie up onto the couch in between him and Maya. "I have something important to ask you. It's pretty important, are you ready?"

"Yes, daddy," Sadie replies.

"What did you want Santa to bring you for Christmas last year?"

Sadie tilts her head and tries to think about what she wanted. Maya giggles at the adorable little girl. The adorable little girl who is going to hold a special place in Maya's heart forever.

"A dollhouse?"

Lucas laughs. "No, sweetie. The thing that Santa couldn't bring you without a woman."

"I'm still don't get it," Sadie replies with a laugh. Riley, Farkle, Zay, and Kala laugh from their where they're sitting.

"Did you ask Santa to bring you a little brother or sister?" Maya asks. Sadie nods.

"Merry Christmas!" Maya cheers. Sadie doesn't get it at first, but once she does her face lights up. Her eyes bulge out of her head, and she starts to cheer.

"Is Riley giving me my baby brudder or sister!" Sadie yells.

This makes the whole room burst with laughter. Lucas pats Sadie's back and explains it to her. "No, sweetie! Maya has a baby in her belly. That baby is gonna be your little brother or sister."

Sadie is quick to give Maya a hug. They hug for a long time when Maya notices that Sadie is sniffling. She pulls away from Sadie and sees that she has tears streaming down her face.

"Sadie? What's the matter?" Maya asks.

"I'm just so happy. Thank you so much for my brudder or sister. You're the best!" Sadie replies. Maya feels a bit overwhelmed with her feelings of joy, but it feels so nice to her to not be miserable for once. A little girl thanking her because she got pregnant isn't what she expected, but the pleasantness of the situation is what makes her chest heat up with that warm feeling of love.

"I love you, Maya." Sadie says. "I hope you get to be my mommy now."

There it is. The complete reassurance for Maya that these are the people she belongs with.

* * *

 _ **I thought I would make this a sweet chapter. I know I still needed for Maya and Lucas to tell Sadie about the baby, and y'all knew she was going to react in such a happy way. I hope this isn't too sappy. It'll be okay though because this story is going to start getting interesting soon.**_

 _ **The next chapter will include Maya visiting someone that you wouldn't expect her visiting. Farkle and Lucas decorate Baby Matthews-Minkus's nursery. Lucas is getting ready for the custody battle.**_

 _ **I hope that I'll update Two Way Door soon.**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Hey y'all! I'm so happy with the way this story is turning out, and I am so happy that y'all are loving it. I think I'm in the midpoint of the story. I'm not entirely sure, I just write this as I go. But I'm thinking that this will be the midpoint of the story. I hate to say that it's not gonna be that interesting, but here you go!**_

 _ **I'm gonna try to make it a surprise as to whom Maya visits, but it's probably really predictable anyway.**_

 _ **I also would like to say that if you haven't read my other story Two Way Door, then the newest chapter has been added, so you should go read it and let me know what you think!**_

 _ **Hope y'all like it!**_

* * *

Lucas carries the large buckets of emerald colored paint upstairs of the Matthews-Minkus house to an empty white room. Farkle is covering the floor in plastic to make sure that paint doesn't get on the carpet. Lucas sets the paint down and gets to work on opening the lids.'

"Thank you for helping me with this. Riley wanted to, but she has a doctor's appointment today. She also really wants to be there for Maya when she goes to see 'you know who'. Do you know why she wants to do this?" Farkle asks.

Lucas gets his paint roller and starts rolling the paint onto the blank wall. "No. I don't get it, but I know she says that she has to do this. I just need to be supportive."

Lucas really doesn't approve of what Maya is doing today. He is so scared that something will happen. It will upset Maya so much if the wrong thing is said to her. He feels anxiety rise up his chest to a point where he wants to take off running. He wants to run to Maya and make sure she's safe.

"What's going on between you two now? Are you getting back together? Or are you two just gonna sleep in the same bed and raise a child together?" Farkle asks.

"I don't know to be honest with you. I want to be with her. I've always wanted to be with her, and I know that Sadie approves of her being apart of our lives for a long time. But I don't want to pressure her. I want her to want to be in a relationship with me. I don't want her to have to feel like she has to be in a relationship with me. She just got out of a horrible relationship that she was in due to the ending of another horrible relationship," Lucas explains.

Farkle grabs a paint roller and helps Lucas coat the blank wall with green paint.

"Don't be ridiculous, Lucas. You two, besides Riley and me, had one of the best relationships. I never saw Maya as happy as she was when she was with you. I don't think I ever saw you as happy as you were when you were with her. I can still see it. Even though all of these conflicts, you two are at your happiest when you're with each other," Farkle says.

"You think so?" Lucas asks.

"I know so."

Lucas smiles and continues to paint the wall with Farkle. They are almost finished with one wall when Sadie walks into the room with her little teddy bear.

"Oh! That's a pretty color!" Sadie compliments Farkle on his color choice.

"Thank you, Sadie. Do you want to help us?" Farkle replies. He bends down to pick up a small brush with green paint on it. She nods, sets her teddy bear down in the floor, and takes the brush from him. She stands beside Lucas and gently strokes the brush up and down the wall.

"She's so sweet," Farkle whispers.

Lucas smiles and nods before Farkle asks him a question. "Were you scared about becoming a father at such a young age?"

"I was terrified. When 'she who shalt not be named' told me she was pregnant, I freaked out. I barely knew how to wipe my own ass let alone a baby's," Lucas half-jokes and laughs when Farkle responds with a disgusted look on his face. "But when I finally got to hold her for the first time. I knew that being a father was going to be fun. A lot of hard work, but fun. Why? Are you scared?"

Farkle nods, and Lucas pats his shoulder, "It's scary. But you just wait. When you hold your son for the first time, every single ounce of fear and anxiety will disappear. And besides, you don't have to do this alone. You've got one of the strongest women I know by your side. You'll do just fine."

"Thanks, Lucas," Farkle starts to paint again. "Are you excited about having another baby?"

Lucas smiles, "I am, actually. It kind of happened a little bit fast, but I am excited. And I know Maya's excited too. She wants to me to come to her first ultrasound soon, so I hope I can make it."

"Why wouldn't you be able to?" Farkle asks.

"I just have a lot of stuff to focus on again with boxing. I've been out of action for a few months, and Nick has been riding me about hurrying along with physical therapy and getting back to the gym and making press conferences. And Sadie has to get her shots so that she can go to school..." Lucas's voice drops to a whisper. "And the trial."

"You still haven't told Sadie about her mother?" Farkle whispers.

"Well I was going to, but then the wreck happened, and everything got out of control. And I haven't told her now because she's too traumatized by the wreck. I don't want her to have to go through this on top of everything else," Lucas explains with a stressful sigh.

"I get it. I really do. But the trial is coming very soon. You can't just hide her from the court because that won't look good on you as a father," Farkle says.

Lucas isn't sure if Farkle is entirely correct about that statement, but he can't help but let that get in his head and cause more stress. He needs to tell Sadie about her mother. He will, but not today. Today is one of the first normal days that Sadie has had in a while.

* * *

Riley puts her car into park and turns the engine off. She stares at Maya who is apprehensive about seeing this person again. Maya's hands are gripping the seat, making her knuckles turn red.

"Why are doing this with me, Riles?" Maya asks.

"Because you've been with me at almost all of my doctor's appointments so far, and because you're my best friend, and you need me. Even if you won't admit it. I know that you need me."

Maya has a light smile on her face as she leans over the seat to give her best friend a hug. They stay like that for a moment before they pull away.

"I'll be standing right behind you when you go talk to him. Whenever you're ready to leave, I won't hesitate to follow you out the front door," Riley says.

"Thank you, Riley. As cliche as this sounds, it needs to be said. You're the best friend that anyone could ever ask for," Maya says.

The two girls get out of the car and walk into the building. They see a man at the front desk and wait for their turn to talk to him. He calls 'next', and Riley and Maya approach him.

"How may I help you ladies?" He asks.

"I'm here to visit an inmate," Maya says. Her voice is a little shaky, so Riley grabs her hand to calm her down. May keeps telling herself that everything is going to be fine, but she feels the anxiety grow inside of her, and she can't help but display some of the symptoms of a panic attack.

"Breathe in and count to 5, breathe out and count 7," Riley tells her as the man is looking up information on the computer. Maya nods and begins to do the breathing exercises. She closes her eyes, and Riley says, "Remember, he's behind a glass wall with guard watching him. He can't hurt you."

"Physically," Maya mumbles and continues to breathe.

"Okay, ladies. I've called for a guard to escort you to Mr. Espinoza's cell. I can tell that your a little bit anxious. If it helps, I can tell you that he's heavily guarded and the officer that I've called for will be with you at all times," The man says. Maya and Riley nod before following their officer to an area of the jail where the inmates sit.

When the officer stops in front of Tony's cell, Maya sees him doing push ups on the floor. He's in a private cell. The windows are unbreakable, and there are numbers printed on one side of them. The officer knocks on the door of Tony's cell.

"Espinoza! You've got a visitor!" The officer yells.

Tony looks up from the floor, and his eyes meet with Maya's. A smirk grows on his face as he stands up and walks over to the door, leaning up against it, staring at Maya from the other side of the glass.

"What are you doing here? Did you miss me?" He finally asks.

Maya is at a loss for words. She can't say anything because she's so nervous, and Tony is growing impatient, waiting for an answer from her.

"So you just came to stare at me? It's alright. I can do the same with you..." He stops and looks over every part of Maya, and she grows tense. "I miss that tight little body of yours."

Maya takes a deep breath and finally speaks. "Why don't you shut the hell the up?"

Tony's face goes hard. What she said obviously has a negative affect on him. "Excuse me?" He asks. Maya feels all the anxiety drain from her body. Her face gains more color in it. She unclenches her fists. She takes a step closer to the glass door and doesn't look afraid at all. She can feel the old Maya coming back.

"You heard what I said. What makes you think that you still have a right to talk to me like that? What made you think you could talk to me like that when we were together? I don't know why I was so scared of you. Why I lost myself because of you. I used to be fearless. There was nothing or nobody on this earth that I was afraid, but for some reason, I was scared of you," Maya begins.

"I could remind you when I get out of here!" Tony says, raising his voice.

"You won't remind me of shit. When I met you, I thought you were different. I thought that you were gonna be the person to help me get over Lucas. And even though you said that you did, the truth is, you made me miss him even more," Maya says. She takes one more step closer to the glass door. She's standing right in front of Tony.

"I, unfortunately, will never forget what you did to me. But I don't care anymore. Because what you did to me is only gonna fuel my hatred for you. And I can't settle my hatred for you in a boxing match like Lucas can. Not like you gonna win anyway because the only thing you like hitting is women. I would know..." Maya glances at the guard watching the altercation and back at Tony who is super pissed. "I have so much more to say to you, but I'm exhausted, and I'm ready to go home. In the free world; whereas, you'll be leaving to another cell, soon. I just wanted you to know that I'm not scared of you anymore. The Maya you knew, is gone."

Maya locks her arm with Riley's and they walk away.

* * *

 _ **Alright! I hope y'all liked this chapter! I knew I wanted to make the old Maya come back in a good way, and I hope that this is a good way.**_

 _ **Lucas will explain Kaitlyn to Sadie in the next chapter as the trial draws closer and closer. We also get a glimpse of Maya's first ultrasound.**_

 _ **Love y'all!**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Hey guys! In this chapter, Lucas is finally gonna explain to Sadie who her mother is. I hope I write this part out in the way that it needs to be wrote out (I know this sounds confusing but level with me). Lucas also might be a little bit too busy to come to Maya's first ultrasound.**_

 _ **Hope y'all enjoy!**_

* * *

Lucas opens his eyes. His vision is blurry due to the sleep in his eyes. He looks over to his left side and sees Maya quietly and comfortably sleeping. He is incredibly proud of how she handled herself yesterday when she went to the jail to see Tony. Although the visit was yesterday, Lucas can already see the confidence and the spunk come back to Maya. It reminds him of the Maya he met in middle school.

He then turns his head to his right side where his little girl is adorably snoozing. She passed out in Lucas's bed last night after they got back from helping Riley and Farkle paint their progressing son's room.

Lucas smiles, but he remembers the conversation he had with Farkle yesterday. The trial is coming up this week, and it's about time that Sadie knows. Lucas hates that he decided to wait until the very last minute to tell Sadie about her mother, but he couldn't. After the papers were served to him, he and Sadie were trying to get their life back to normal. Then the wreck happened, and he didn't want to put Sadie through anymore trauma, especially while she was in the hospital.

But today has to be the day that she gets informed. Sadie has asked about her mother before, but Lucas just always said stuff that would change the subject like "go get your ballet shoes" or "do you want to watch a movie", and it worked for a long time. However, Sadie is going to be turning five years old soon, and Lucas is gonna have to be prepared for comments from Sadie like "my friend's mommy...blah blah blah...where's my mommy?"

Lucas leans over to gently wake Sadie up, which he hates to do on a Saturday, but he needs to do this now. He needs to do it now while he has this time alone with her, and he needs to do it now because he has a ton of press stuff he needs to do today.

"Sadie. Sweetie, wake up," Lucas says. He watches her eyes flutter open and slowly wake up enough to look at him.

"Daddy? Why am I in your room?" She asks.

"Well, you came in here and fell asleep on my bed last night, and you just look too adorable to move, so Maya and I decided to sleep next to you," Lucas replies.

"Why did you wake me up?" Sadie asks turning back around and trying to go to sleep again. Lucas laughs and tickles her, making her giggle.

"I really need to talk to you about something. It's important, so I need your full attention. Let's go downstairs, and I'll fix us all a nice breakfast," Lucas says. Sadie agrees and follows Lucas downstairs to the kitchen.

After fixing himself, Sadie, and Maya a nice breakfast, Lucas sets two plates down in front of the both of them and sits across from Sadie at the table. Sadie begins to dig into her pancakes.

"So, I want to tell you something, but you have to try not to get upset. Okay?" Lucas begins. Sadie nods and continues to eat. "I want to talk to you about your mom."

Sadie looks at him, intrigued by the topic of the conversation. "Why?"

"It's very complicated to explain, but I will try to explain this to you the best way I can," He says, taking a bite of his pancakes. "Your mother's name is Kaitlyn Massey. She was a woman that I was with in high school after she got pregnant with you."

Lucas is hesitant to say this next part, but he needs to say it. "As you grow up you will find out that there are bad people in this world, and you'll see that there are good people that do bad things. And at one point in time I was a good person that did a bad thing. But I don't want you to be scared of me, because I'm not that person now."

"What'd you do that was a bad thing?"

Lucas is so scared that Sadie will hate him after this. "Okay. I'll tell you. When I was in high school, I had a girlfriend, who I was deeply in love with. But there was this one time that I got together with your mother, and I messed up that relationship bad. When a boyfriend or a girlfriend is with another boy or girl while they have a boyfriend or girlfriend, that is called cheating, and cheating is the bad thing that I did."

Sadie looks so confused. "Why did you cheat?"

"That is a different conversation for a day that is a long time away from today," Lucas says. Sadie nods and continues to listen. "My girlfriend had her heart broken because I wanted to be a dummy, and you know who that girlfriend is."

"Who is it? Was it Aunt Riley?"

Lucas chuckles. "That's also a different conversation for a different day."

"Well, who was it?"

"Maya."

"Why did you break Maya's heart, daddy? Maya is a sweet girl. She doesn't need her heart broken," Sadie says. Lucas feels a little bit of panic start to rise in him.

"This is part of what the complicated part is but listen. I didn't want to break Maya's heart. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. But I knew that when I got with your mom, that I ruined that important part of my life. And I regret that everyday, but you want to know something?" Lucas asks. Sadie nods as Lucas tells her. "If I wouldn't have gotten together with your mom, I wouldn't have you. And you are one of the best things to ever happen to me. I'm not saying that to make cheating sound like a good thing or that if you cheat on someone then you'll get a reward. I'm not saying that at all."

"I get it," Sadie says.

Lucas looks surprised that his four year old daughter is comprehending what he's telling her right now.

"Was mommy a bad person?" Sadie asks.

"As much as I want to say that she is, I can't. Because I haven't seen her or heard from her in four years to tell. So I'll let you decide," Lucas replies.

"How are you going to do that?"

"I'll tell you about why she's not in your life anymore. But before I tell you, I want you to know that none of this is your fault. Don't feel like you did something wrong to make her leave," Lucas begins. "Your mom and I were very young when you were born. We hadn't even graduated high school yet. But your mother thought that having a baby was too much for her to handle. I mean she didn't even hold you that much, and when it was her turn to watch you, she mostly had her parents do it, and you know grandma and grandpa. Anyway, she tried putting you up for adoption without telling me."

"Why did she do that?" Sadie asks.

"I don't know, because I kept you, and you seem like a very awesome kid to me," Lucas says, bringing a big smile to Sadie's face.

"Daddy!" Sadie giggles.

"Well it's true. You're an amazing kid. You've changed me and made me become a better man. Your mom missed out on raising an extraordinary girl like you," Lucas says.

"Does mommy hate me?"

"No. She doesn't. She just couldn't handle the pressure. But this is the most important part of the conversation. Your mom came back. She wanted to see you, but it was late in the night, and you were already asleep. She wants to take you away from me, but I can't let that happen, you know why?" Lucas asks.

"Why?"

"Because I love you too much to let you go with her. She's never been apart of your life, and I can't trust someone that I don't really know anymore," Lucas replies.

Sadie nods and looks down. "I don't feel hungry anymore."

"Are you mad at me for not letting you see your mom that night?"

"No. I'm glad that you didn't," Sadie responds. That completely takes Lucas off guard.

"Why?"

"Well. I know I'm only four, but I don't know anything about her. I've never seen her at my birthday party. She never comes to pick me up at daycare. She doesn't call to talk to me. I'm kind of scared of her," Sadie replies.

On the inside, Lucas can't be more happy to hear this, but he has to keep a nice poker face. "I want you to know that I've got the best lawyer in New York to help me keep you, but you never know with a court case. And I hope you know that if there is ever a time that you want to see your mother, you can tell me, and we will go visit her. Don't be afraid to ask to go see her," Lucas explains. Sadie nods and walks over to Lucas a big hug.

"I love you, daddy," Sadie says.

"I love you too, sweetie," Lucas replies. He gives her a kiss on the top of her head and lets her go upstairs to her room. Maya walks down with a smile on her face.

"You're a good father, Lucas. I don't think you have to be worried," Maya says. She walks over to him and gives him a hug.

She presses her lips against his shoulder before burying head in his chest. Lucas kisses the top of her head and smiles down at the woman who he's completely in love with.

'I love you. So much," Lucas tells her.

Maya smiles and stands on her tippy toes to catch his lips with hers. It's a very slow and passionate kiss, but it was also very sweet and romantic.

Lucas pulls away to catch his breath. "Does that mean that you love me too?"

Maya giggles and nods. "Of course, Huckleberry."

"So does that mean you are ready to make this thing between us official?" Lucas asks.

"I think that is exactly what it means," Maya says with a gigantic smile on her face. A gigantic smile that Lucas never wants to see go away like it did.

"I would love to stay here and kiss you all day, but I have to go to these press events. Nick will actually kill me if I don't show up," Lucas says.

Maya groans, "I should call Nick and tell him that I will actually kill him if he doesn't let you come to ultrasound.I hate that you can't make it, but I understand that you have to do this."

"I wish I could go to, but Sadie's going and Riley's going, and I know that between the two of them they will tell me everything. And I mean everything."

Maya laughs and agrees with that statement. Lucas kisses Maya again before going upstairs to get ready to leave. Maya looks down at her stomach and smiles. A real, genuine smile.

* * *

Riley and Sadie are sitting down next to each other next to the table where Maya is ready for her first ultrasound. She has her shirt pushed up to where the technician can have enough belly to look at the baby with.

"Wow. I can't believe you are having a baby too. I always thought it would be cool to be pregnant with my best friend, but I never believed it could happen, but look at us. I'm almost five months, and you are two months. It's amazing," Riley says.

"I'm really excited to have a baby brudder or sister," Sadie adds.

"I'm excited for that too, Sadie," Maya replies. "I've always loved you. And now we can have something that we can love together. You know, besides dancing and art and movies."

"Is Lucas coming?" Riley asks.

Maya sighs, "I wish he could, but he has to show up for all of these press conferences."

The ultrasound technician walks into the room after a few minutes of silence. She's looking over Maya's chart and sits down in the rolling chair beside the table.

"Hello, Ms. Hart. I am Dr. Penley, and I will be the one doing your first ultrasound. After this one, I think it's safe to say that your OB/GYN will be doing these from now on," The doctor says.

Dr. Penley walks over to a cabinet to grab the jelly that will be rubbed on Maya's stomach to look at her little baby. Maya isn't gonna lie when she says that she feels anxious. She's nervous that something will be wrong, but she's also excited to see what the baby looks like inside her right now.

"I'm going to rub this jelly stuff on you. It'll feel cold, but it's something that you'll get used to once you come in for monthly check ups," the doctor says as Maya nods. "Who's with you today?"

"This is my best friend, Riley," Maya says, pointing at Riley who has her excited smile on her face. Maya points at Sadie and says, "And she is my boyfriend's daughter. But I love her like my own."

"It's nice to meet the both of you," Dr. Penley says, rubbing the jelly all over Maya's abdomen. "I would shake y'all's hands, but I'm sure you don't want any jelly on it."

Riley and Sadie giggle a little bit and agree with the doctor.

Before Dr. Penley begins the ultrasound she looks at Maya, "Will the father be joining you today?"

Just as Maya is beginning to shake her head, the door opens. Lucas walks in and walks over to Maya's side. He grabs her hand and kisses her forehead.

"Hey! How did you get out of doing the press stuff?" Maya asks in shock.

"I told Nick that I'd pay him a little more from my paycheck if he let me come," Lucas teases. Maya thumps him in the head.

Dr. Penley laughs, "Are you ready to see your baby?" She asks.

Maya and Lucas nod and the doctor begins the ultrasound. Maya is afraid that there won't be any heartbeat, but once those drumming noises began, all of her fears went away. Now, she feel complete joy and relief flow throughout her body. Tears are clouding her vision. She looks up to see Lucas with tears in his eyes too.

"Do you want to see your baby?" Dr. Penley asks. Lucas and Maya glance at the screen and wipe their tears away to see it clearly. They see the tiny little peanut shaped baby on the screen and can't hold back their emotions anymore. Lucas leans his head on Maya's and kisses her forehead again.

"I can't believe it," He whispers.

"Me either."

* * *

 _ **Aww! Okay, I hope that this chapter was kind of sweet for y'all. I thought I should add that considering that the next chapter will be the beginning of the trial.**_

 _ **There will be some interesting things that happen with this trial. Things you won't like. Things you will like.**_

 _ **Love y'all!**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Hey guys! I know I say this at the beginning of each chapter, but I always want to take the time to thank all of you for reading and liking my story. I am very appreciative of each and every one of you, and I couldn't feel more blessed.**_

 _ **This chapter begins the trial. It'll be a short trial, but a long chapter. And the aftermath will continue in the next chapter. I hope y'all like it!**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

* * *

Lucas is struggling to tie his navy tie. His hands are shaking, and his mind is on a completely different planet. The trial starts in a few hours, and while he has complete faith in his lawyer, Topanga Matthews, he still can't help but feel scared that this will be his last day with his little girl.

He remembers everything he has been through with Sadie. All the tears, all the sickness, all the laughter, and all the love. He has been there for Sadie, and he can't see a court taking her away from him. Especially since Kaitlyn hasn't had anything to do with her.

"Are you going to bring Sadie?" Maya asks, bringing Lucas out of his thoughts.

Lucas, who is tired of fumbling with his tie finally stops messing with it. He looks at Maya and shakes his head. "No. I don't want her to be around that environment. She's been through enough. I called my mom; she's gonna take care of Sadie until we get back."

Maya takes Lucas's tie that is hanging off his neck and begins to gently secure the knot around his neck. She straightens out his great blazer and wraps her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.

"I would ask if you were nervous, but I think it's inevitable. I don't know what to do when someone's anxiety is taking over their thoughts, but I can do my best to make sure you aren't alone. I hope you'll let me in. I want to be here for you, the same way you were there for me," Maya says, staring into his eyes.

Lucas looks into Maya's eyes. He nods and and pulls her back into his chest, holding the back of her head.

"We're gonna get through this, Lucas. Together," Maya says, grabbing his hand and intertwining her fingers with his. She gives his hand a gentle and calming squeeze.

Lucas plants a kiss on top of Maya's head before they hear the quiet footsteps of someone approaching them. She tugs on the leg of Lucas's gray trousers, literally grabbing his attention. Lucas looks down to the small girl who appears to be in the same state as he is. He notices that she's holding onto her favorite dress and favorite flats.

"What's the matter sweetie?" Lucas says as he bends down to meet his daughter face to face.

"I want to go with you, daddy. I know you don't want me to go, but I want to," Sadie says with a face that nobody could say 'no' to. Lucas tucks a strand of her chestnut colored hair behind her ear. Sadie is looking in the floor, something she does when she's nervous about asking Lucas for something.

Lucas smiles and tilts his daughter's chin up so that she's looking at him. Her face relaxes when she sees that Lucas has a small smile on his face. "I would love for you to come with us. But are you sure you're going to be able to handle it? It's not a playground; you have to be quiet and sit still. I'll still ask grandma to come just in case you want to leave or have to go to the bathroom or something, okay?"

"Yes, daddy," Sadie replies and starts out of Lucas's bedroom, but before she leaves, she wraps her tiny arms around Lucas's neck and kisses his cheek. "You're the best daddy in the whole wide world. I love you."

Sadie leaves the bedroom with Maya who said she was going to help Sadie get ready for the trial. Lucas sits on his bed and can't help but let out a few tears. How could somebody take his little girl away from him? Before he knows it, he's sobbing, and he can't stop.

"Lucas?" He hears. When he looks towards the voice he sees Riley Matthews-Minkus standing at his door. She walks in and sits down on his bed beside him. "Oh Lucas. I'm sorry you and Sadie have to go through this."

Riley wipes a few of his tears away. "You know you apologize too much for stuff that isn't your fault?" Lucas asks, wiping the rest of the tears off of his face.

"I know it's hard not to get emotional on a day like this, but I have faith in my mother. This is all going to work out for itself. I don't have a doubt in my mind that it won't," Riley says.

Lucas agrees. "I know..." He wipes another stray tear. "She said that I was the best daddy in the whole world."

"Ah. Now I know why you're really crying," Riley says, rubbing Lucas's shoulder. He nods and smiles.

"If she gets taken away from me, then I don't know what I'm going to do."

* * *

Lucas walks into the courtroom meeting with Topanga at the front. Sadie and Maya are beside him, and Riley, Farkle, Zay, Mrs. Friar, and Mr. Matthews are behind him. Lucas looks at the great group of people who are sitting behind him. His daughter, the love of his life, his friends, and family. Nick is there to support him, even a few guys from the boxing ring, which surprises him, but he's happy to have the support.

"Are you ready, Lucas? In a trial like this, the judge tends to side with the mother, but I am going to do everything in my power to make sure that Sadie doesn't go home with that woman," Topanga says. Lucas nods and turns around to his support group.

"No matter what the outcome is, just remember that she loves you. And remember that I love you. And we will do whatever it takes to make sure the custody stays what it currently is," Maya tells him. Lucas nods and straightens his blazer up. He continues to stand up until the judge walks in and says they can sit down.

"We are here today on account of Mr. Lucas Friar and Ms. Kaitlyn Massey regarding the custody situation of Miss Sadie Friar," The judge begins and continues to talk about the rules of the courtroom and allows for Kaitlyn's attorney to speak first.

The male attorney, who reveals himself to be Mr. Bennett, stands up before the courtroom and begins to talk to the judge about his client.

"My client is here because she wants to be apart of her daughter's life again. She went to visit Mr. Friar at his penthouse and asked for permission to see her daughter, which Mr. Friar then denied, claiming that Miss Friar was sleeping. Now, what kind of man doesn't allow a woman to see her own daughter? A cruel man, that's who-"

"Objection! Your honor, Mr. Bennett is attacking my clients character, that does not hold ground for the removal of a child from her parent's home!" Topanga exclaims. Lucas watches the whole thing go down, not expecting Topanga to yell that.

"Mr. Bennett, can you please defend your client without personally attacking the opponent?" The judge says.

Mr. Bennett clears his throat and fixes his tie, "My apologies. Now, as I was beginning to say, I don't think that a mother should be denied the opportunity to visit her child. Ms. Massey has tried to make contact with the young girl and was denied. We are here to ask you, your honor, to grant Ms. Massey with soul custody of her daughter."

The judge nods and writes notes on a pad of paper. The judge then allows Topanga to stand up and make her opening statement. Topanga puts her glasses on and grabs her pad of paper and stands up before the judge and the courtroom.

"Ladies and gentlemen. I know that Mr. Bennett made my client out to be a cruel man, but I can tell you that he's not. Lucas Friar is a man who cares deeply about his daughter. He was granted soul custody four years ago when Miss Friar was two months old, and Kaitlyn Massey walked out on him and her daughter. Now that Miss Friar is older and has no clue who her real mother is, Ms. Massey thinks it is alright to show up out of nowhere and try to take Miss Friar away from her father, who has raised her into this incredible little girl," Topanga says.

Lucas turns around and sees Sadie playing the fabric at the bottom of her dress. He sees Maya watching her and gently stroking the hair on Sadie's head. That's who Sadie needs in her life, but he has to see how the court will decide.

"Mr. Friar has done nothing but be an incredible father to that little girl, and I'm telling you that you would be making a huge mistake if you take Miss Friar away from her father. Thank you," Topanga finishes and sits down. The judge is continuing to make notes.

"Okay. I think now is the time that we start calling people to the stand. And since it seems that Mrs. Matthews is the only one to bring people to back up her information, I suggest we start with her first," The judge says, making another note.

"Yes, your honor. I would like to first call, Isaiah Babineaux to the stand," Topanga says. She gets her note cards ready and waits for Zay to take the stand. Zay takes the oath that he will tell nothing but truth. And when he's ready, Topanga begins. "Mr. Babineaux, what is your relationship to my client?"

"Lucas and I have been best friends since we were old enough to talk to each other," Zay responds.

"Okay, and how would you describe my clients behavior as a father?"

"Well, I only got reacquainted with Lucas about a few months ago. But I can tell you that when Sadie came into his life, he became a completely different person. He used to be protective over our group of friends, but once Sadie was born, she was his number one priority. And even now, he's as protective over her as he was the day she was born..."

 _..._

 _"Welcome home, Sadie Friar," Lucas said to his newborn baby girl. He walks over to the kitchen and shows her around. "This is where daddy is gonna be at three in the morning making you a bottle when you get hungry. It'll be okay, though, because I get hungry at three in the morning too."_

 _Lucas walked upstairs to his bedroom and showed her the crib for her to sleep in. "This is where you'll be sleeping until daddy moves out of his mommy and daddy's house. I hope you like this crib. It took me forever to put it together."_

 _"It did?" Lucas heard his best friend, Zay, ask. Lucas smiled and turned around to show his bundle of joy to his best friend. Zay walked over to Lucas and the baby and stared at her._

 _"She's beautiful, man," Zay complimented._

 _"She looks like me, of course she's beautiful," Lucas joked. Zay laughed and sat down next to Lucas on his bed. He watched as Lucas stared at his little girl._

 _"Wow. I can't believe you made that. Can I hold her?" Zay asked._

 _Lucas gently placed Sadie into Zay's arms. Zay moved his arms around to make the baby comfortable enough to not wake up. Lucas slowly pulled his hands back, afraid that Zay would drop her._

 _"Don't worry. I've held babies before. I aint gonna drop her," Zay laughed, noticing how Lucas was stretching his arms out after having his baby taken out of his arms. "You actually haven't put her down since the first time you've held her."_

 _"How can I not? Look at her. And her own mother doesn't want to hold her, that just means that there's more time for me to hold her," Lucas replied._

 _..._

"Mr. Bennett, do you have any questions for Mr. Babineaux?" The judge asks.

"No, your honor," Mr. Bennett responds.

The judge dismisses Zay from the stand, and Topanga calls Riley and Farkle to the stand to talk about Sadie being in daycare. Topanga asks them both if Sadie has ever talked about Lucas while he wasn't around. They both agree and tell the judge that Sadie tells them how much she loves her father.

They aren't on the stand for long either, but Mr. Bennett does ask the both of them if they think Lucas is a neglectful father, to which they both responded with "Lucas is busy, which is why Sadie is in daycare with us, but he's not neglectful. Otherwise, all the parents of the children at our daycare would have what you consider "neglectful" parents."

The next person that Topanga calls to the stand is Maya. She quietly makes her way to the stand and takes the oath to tell the truth. Topanga begins with the questions.

"Miss Hart? You are Miss Friar's ballet teacher, and I am told that you often babysit Miss Friar? Am I correct?" Topanga begins. Maya has never seen Topanga as serious as she is right now, but this is something that is very near and dear to her heart, so Maya understands the intensity.

Maya nods her head. "Yes, that's true. I take Sadie to daycare after my class, and I pick her up from daycare unless Lucas gets off work early enough."

"To reiterate what my opponent asked Mr. and Mrs. Matthews-Minkus, do you think of Lucas as a neglectful father because of his line of work?"

"He is far from a neglectful father. I used to come over to Lucas's house after Sadie was born. Yes, I would babysit her while Lucas did his school work, and I helped him whenever he didn't know what to do. But he was in high school, and still had a lot of work to do. And now that he's a boxer, he is still busy, but he always takes many days off to spend time with Sadie. He's not neglectful, now I think you should be asking Kaitlyn about neglectful parents," Maya says.

"That's all the questions I have for you, Miss Hart," Topanga says.

"Mr. Bennett, do you have any questions you would like to ask Miss Hart?" The judge asks.

Mr. Bennett stands up from his seat, a large smirk on his face. He makes his way over to the stand where Maya is sitting and stares at her.

"Miss Hart, you were in a relationship when you were reacquainted with Mr. Friar and his daughter, am I correct?" Mr. Bennett asks.

Maya tries to hide the fact that her shoulders got tense. "Yes. I was. What does that have to do with anything?"

"According to my sources, you were in a long-term relationship with a Mr. Anthony Espinoza. Now, if I'm reading this correctly, it says that you were repeatedly abused by this man-"

"Hey! You shut the hell up! That has nothing to do with this!" Lucas yells. Topanga grabs Lucas's arm and tries to get him to settle down.

"Excuse me! One more outburst like that, and I will hold you in contempt of court!" The judge yells, pounding the gavel against the desk. "Mr. Bennett, please continue."

Mr. Bennett has that smirk on his face again. "My pleasure, your honor. Miss Hart? Care to answer that last question?"

Maya nods. "Yes. I was in an abusive relationship when I got reacquainted with Lucas and Sadie."

"So Lucas let an abuser around his daughter, and let his daughter watch him attack that abuser?" Mr. Bennett questions. Maya feels like she's going to puke. She can't believe her past mistake is affecting this trial.

"No. Lucas made sure that Sadie was always away from Tony. Yes, she did come to the _boxing match_ to watch her father do a great thing for charity. A match that Tony accepted. Lucas never attack Tony, not even when he found out that Tony was abusing me because that was against the contract they both signed. They couldn't lay a hand on each other until the night of the match," Maya explains.

"Yes, but how did Mr. Friar explain to his daughter that Mr. Espinoza hit his girlfriend the same way he hit his opponent?" Mr. Bennett continues to question Maya.

"I was there when Lucas explained to Sadie that boxing is a dangerous and violent sport. A sport that he didn't want her to watch or be apart of. The only reason he became a boxer was to provide for Sadie. And I think he did a pretty damn good job," Maya spits back at Mr. Bennett.

"Okay. Now, according to my records, you were involved in a car accident that was purposefully caused by your abusive ex boyfriend. A car accident that left Miss Friar in the hospital for a month. Most of which she was in a medically induced coma? What do you have to say about that?"

"Well because this is about _Lucas_ , I'm going to tell you about what Lucas did in the hospital during that time..." Maya emphasizes Lucas's name. "When Lucas was cleared by the medical staff to leave his bed, he didn't come check on me; he went straight to Sadie's room. That was the room that he stayed in everyday for that whole month until she woke up. He never left her bedside."

Mr. Bennett, who doesn't a smirk on his face anymore, sits back down. Maya steps down from the stand and sits back down behind Lucas.

"I think it's time for Mr. Friar and Ms. Massey to give their arguments," The judge says. "Ms. Massey, you'll go first."

Lucas glares at Kaitlyn as she stands up beside her lawyer. She looks at the judge and the people inside the courtroom.

"My name is Kaitlyn Massey. I was seventeen when I found out that I was pregnant with my daughter, Sadie. I was scared. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life at the time. I didn't even know what I was going to have for dinner that night, let alone know what I was going to do with a baby. When Sadie was born, Lucas and I shared custody of her for two months before I finally decided that she needed a better life. I found a wonderful family to put her with while Lucas and I live our lives, but Lucas didn't agree with me, so I signed her over to him. I want to get to know my daughter now before it's too late, and Lucas won't allow me to. For the sake of my daughter, you have to let her come home with me," Kaitlyn says before she takes a seat.

Lucas stands up. He knows exactly what he wants to say. And he's ready to drop a major bomb on Kaitlyn's plan.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Lucas Friar. I am the father of the most amazing four year old girl on the planet. When Kaitlyn told me that she was pregnant, I felt a whole range of emotions, but none of those emotions were hatred or anger. When it came to having a baby, I felt joyful and excitement and anxiousness. And when I first held my baby girl, I knew I was never gonna let go of her. I love her more than I can even begin to explain. We've been through so much together. And I just want to say that when Sadie was in the hospital for that whole entire month, Kaitlyn didn't even bother to visit, call, or even leave a card or flowers."

Lucas sees Kaitlyn glaring at him, the same way he glared at her when she spoke. Gosh, he never thought he could actually hate somebody. But when Kaitlyn dropped Sadie off on him, tried to put her up for adoption without his permission, and leave, he felt that feeling catch up with him.

Lucas ignores the burning hatred in his stomach for Kaitlyn and looks over at his daughter, who always has that calming effect over him.

"When I'm going through a lot, it's like Sadie can read my mind, and she knows exactly what to do. Whenever I'm with her, I'm happy. The people who I do let around her, make her happy. And I just want her to know that she is the best daughter in the whole wide world. And I love you," Lucas finishes. He sits down and wipes a few tears out of his eyes and gets comfort from Topanga.

"Okay," The judge says. "I am going to go review what I heard before I make a decision. I-"

"Wait!" The judge is interrupted by a small voice in the back. The judge looks at the little girl with her hand raised. "Can I say something please?"

The judge forms a small smile and nods. "Of course."

Sadie is helped down by Maya. Lucas stands up and follows Sadie to the stand. He picks her up by her underarms to sit her down in the seat.

"What would like to say, Miss Friar?" The judge asks.

Sadie, who is playing with her fingernails, looks up and shyly begins to speak. "I just...um...wanted to stay that I love you too, daddy. And...um...he's a great daddy...and um... Maya is a great mommy... I don't...um...know my mommy...but my daddy says that I can...um...meet her whenever I want to...and um...I don't think I want to meet her yet...um...sorry lady... I know that I...um...I'm posed to love my mommy...but I don't know her...I love Maya though...um...sorry if...um...I wasted time."

Sadie finishes what she says, and Lucas helps her down from the stand. He sees an expressionless Kaitlyn on the way back to his seat. Typical of her to not even react to her own daughter saying that she doesn't love her real mommy. Maya, however, is in tears. When Sadie sits down, she gives Maya a big hug.

"Alright. We will take a recess. I should have an answer by the end of this evening. Good luck to the both of you," The judge says before everyone stands up and leaves.

* * *

Lucas, Maya, and Sadie are keeping their distances from Kaitlyn during the recess. Everybody went to go get something to eat before court was in order. At that time, Lucas couldn't eat. He couldn't even think about eating until he knows that his little girl is coming home with him. Now, Lucas is holding Sadie in his arms and refuses to let go of her.

"Thank you for being strong for the both of us today, Sadie," Lucas whispers. "You are an extraordinary girl, and I will do anything for you."

"I like being strong, but there are a lot of time where I don't feel that way. Like when I was talking in the big chair for the judge in the bigger chair," Sadie explains.

Lucas squeezes her, "You are the strongest person to sit that chair today. You told the judge how you felt, without even being asked. And you were being honest. That is what a strong person does. They stand up for what they believe in, they stand up for themselves in the nicest way possible and they keep their calm while doing it."

"I don't know what that mean, but thank you, daddy," Sadie giggles.

Topanga walks over to Lucas. "Lucas? Can I talk to you out in the hall for a minute?"

Lucas nods and hands Sadie over to Maya. "Yea." Maya shrugs when Lucas looks at her with a confused look on his face.

"Okay. I just want to go ahead, in advance, and say that if the outcome is that Kaitlyn gets custody of Sadie, that we will continue to fight this. Sadie's statement really helped, but even in the most sweetest statements from young children in a custody battle, can't always guarantee that you will get soul custody. If the judge does grant Kaitlyn with custody, then she will allow you to have visiting time, and Kaitlyn can be held in contempt if she doesn't allow you to see her," Topanga begins to say.

"Are you saying that Sadie is going to be taken away from me?" Lucas asks, beginning to panic.

"No. But as your lawyer, I have to prepare you for anything," Topanga responds. Lucas nods.

"If the judge grants Kaitlyn custody, then I will talk to the judge about having someone from social services follow her around and see if she's fit enough to be a mother. This worker will be undercover, so that we are allowed to see better results. They'll install nanny cams and everything. We will know everything. I've seen this happen before. In cases of neglect, we need to make sure that the child doesn't wind up getting neglected," Topanga explains.

This news helps Lucas breathe a little bit, but he's still nervous that Sadie will taken away from him.

* * *

The judge enters the room and tells everybody that they can sit. This is the moment of truth. The moment that Lucas has been anxious about for months.

"In the custody case of Sadie Friar. I, the judge of this court, have made a decision on whether Miss Friar will be going home with her mother, Kaitlyn Massey, or her father, Lucas Friar," The judge says.

Lucas can feel his heartbeat in his ears. It feels like the judge is taking forever to tell them whom Sadie is going home with. He can't take it anymore.

"I have decided that out of respect to the mother. I will allow custody to Kaitlyn Massey."

"No! Daddy!" Sadie begins to cry.

"With custody of the young child granted to you, you also have to be aware of visitation time for Mr. Friar."

"No! I wanna go with daddy!" Sadie cries.

The bailiff walks over with Kaitlyn to grab Sadie away from her family. She's struggling to go, and when she sees Lucas's face, she loses it.

"Let me go! I wanna stay with my daddy! Please!"

"Let her go!" Lucas says. The bailiff lets go of the little girl, and she runs over to Lucas. She hides her face in his shoulder and cries.

Lucas rubs her back and tries to shush her. "It'll be okay, sweetie. You've gotta be strong for me, okay? I'll call you everyday, and I'll come see you all the time. Please, calm down. I'll miss you sweetheart. I love you."

"Alright, c'mon!" Kaitlyn fusses.

"I love you, daddy! Please get me back!"

And Lucas can feel his heart literally break.

* * *

 _ **Alright! Please don't hate me! The story isn't over yet. Things will get difficult for some characters. And things will get better with some characters.**_

 _ **Just level with me. The story isn't over yet, it's only getting more interesting from here.**_

 _ **Love y'all!**_


	14. Chapter 14

_**Hi y'all! I am beyond happy with all the lovely reviews I got for the last chapter. I do just want to make a few things clear, and it was the guest who signed off with the initials KT that brought this up to me.**_

 _ **I know that in a regular custody case like this where the mother did sign away her parental rights that it's almost impossible to give custody of that child to their mother.**_

 _ **But I gave Kaitlyn custody of Sadie for a reason, and I'll just explain in the terms of "the justice system being biased resulting in an unfair call for Lucas". You guys will get what I mean later on in the story. But things have to get more dramatic first. I want y'all to see what Sadie's life with Kaitlyn actually is like, and I'll show y'all a little bit more of Kaitlyn's attitude (Which, y'all won't like, of course). Then another...dare I say it? Plot twist! (Sorry, they're my specialty)**_

 _ **Enjoy this chapter! (P.S. There is a time jump in the middle of this chapter!)  
**_

* * *

Lucas sits alone in the room where his daughter was just taken away from him. He continues to hear her screaming "No! I want to stay with daddy!" over and over in his head. This is one of his worst fears that he's living through right now, having his daughter taken away from him. He wipes the tears that cover his face on his blazer sleeve. He has never cried as hard as he is crying right now.

He hears the door behind him open, but he doesn't turn around to see who it is. He hides his face in his hands and rests his elbows on his knees. The pain he feels in his chest, his stomach, and his head is the effect of his reaction to the loss of custody.

Not even the soft touch of his girlfriend's hand on his shoulder is enough to bring him out of his sobbing state. Maya takes a seat beside him and rubs his back as he continues to cry. She grabs his head and pulls him to her so that he's crying on her shoulder. Lucas doesn't see this, but Maya is crying just as much as he is. Even though Sadie isn't her daughter, Sadie loves her like a mother, and Maya feels as though she just lost custody of her daughter as well.

Lucas cries for a couple of minutes before he sits up and looks at Maya. The light is shining off the tear stains that scatter his face. Maya quickly wipes her eyes before Lucas can tell that she was crying with him, then she grabs his hand.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," Lucas says. "I don't know what I'm going to do. Can you tell me what to do?"

Maya shrugs, not knowing if what she's about to say will satisfy what Lucas is feeling right now. "Continue to trust that Mrs. Matthews knows what she's doing. I know you had to trust her to help you keep Sadie, but I know that she has back up plan. I've seen her do the impossible."

Lucas stares at Maya. "I just feel that something fishy happened with the results. I mean there was no way they would grant soul custody to Kaitlyn, especially when she signed her parental rights away when Sadie was still a baby."

"You're right," Topanga Matthews says, grabbing the attention of Lucas and Maya. They both turn to look at her as she makes her way to sit down on the other side of Lucas.

"What do you mean?" Lucas asks.

"When we had the conversation before the judge came back the decision of the custody case, I told you that if the judge gave custody to Kaitlyn that I will do anything to make sure that Sadie will end up in your custody again," Topanga begins, and Lucas nods before she continues. "I was ninety-nine percent sure that you were going to win. I was just as in shock as you were at the results. But I'm thinking that something else happened. I'm not sure what it was, something that swayed the judges decision. I'm going to look at everything to see what I can find. Now, I don't know how long that will take, but I won't work alone. I know a few people in Washington who can help me with background checks of the judge, Kaitlyn's attorney, and Kaitlyn. I will not drop this because it's not right that Sadie was taken away from you."

"What do you think could've happened that swayed the judge's decision?" Maya asks.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I won't be surprised to see some money or sex involved in this decision, if that's the case. That's also why I am going to take a look at all the security tapes from everywhere here. I want to know why that judge decided against you," Topanga explains.

Lucas and Maya nod and stand up, giving Topanga a hug.

"Thank you, Mrs. Matthews. If you need anything from us, just give us a call," Lucas says.

"I will. I know that it's hard, and it's a lot to take in right now, but I want you to go home and get some sleep. The both of you because you both look exhausted. I'll call you tomorrow to tell you my whole plan," Topanga says. Lucas and Maya nod, leaving the courthouse.

* * *

It's three thirty in the morning when Lucas wakes up. He turns around and sees Maya quietly sleeping beside him. He kisses her forehead before he gently gets out of bed. He makes his way out of the penthouse to the roof of the building outside.

It's been a month since he last seen Sadie in the courtroom. He's going to go to Kaitlyn's apartment today to visit her, and that is the reason why he can't sleep. He's too wired up about what he's going to say to Sadie when he sees her. He's afraid that she'll be resentful towards him for not stopping those people from taking her away. He can only imagine how scared she was to be in a completely new environment.

Lucas has asked Riley and Farkle if Kaitlyn has been bringing Sadie to daycare, which they both replied that she hasn't. Hearing stuff like that is what is making Lucas scared that Sadie isn't in a safe place. She should be home in her own bed. His mind is all over the place about his little girl. He can't escape the thoughts of whether or not she's getting fed, whether or not she has a bath, whether or not she's happy.

The next thing he feels is a warm blanket. One being thrown over his shoulders by a girl half his height. A girl who he feels he has abandoned since he lost custody of one of his children. She tells him that she and the baby are okay, and that they want him to get well before he starts putting the pressure on himself to tend to all of their needs.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just thought you might be cold," Maya tells him. He looks and sees how big her eyes are. He sees how red her eyes are, and he realizes how he's forgotten about how Maya feels about Sadie being taken away too. He realizes that whenever Maya told him that her and the baby are okay, that maybe she was lying, and they are just as broken about it as he is.

"It's okay. I'm sorry if I was the one who woke you up," Lucas apologizes.

"It wasn't you. I couldn't sleep either. I knew you'd come up here, and I just wanted to make sure you are okay," Maya says. Lucas opens his arm, motioning her to join him under the warm blanket. She wraps her arm around his torso as he wraps his arm around her, covering her with the blanket too.

"Maya. I'm sorry if it seems like I've stopped caring about you and the baby. I haven't, I swear, I've just had so many things going through my head, and I feel like you and the baby deserve so much better than what I'm giving to y'all. I haven't stopped loving you," Lucas explains.

Maya giggles, something he's missed hearing. "Lucas. I don't have a doubt that you have stopped loving us. And don't you dare say that the baby and I deserve someone else to care for us. You're as good as it gets, so don't worry about things like that. That's just you're brains way of tricking you, and I know that I can't really stop it from doing that, but if I have to reassure you two million times a day that I love you and that I know that you love me, then I will do it. I understand how you feel, and I just want to do everything in my power to make sure you are going to get to a better place. A better place with me, a better place with our baby, a better place with Sadie, and a better place with yourself. Understand me?"

Lucas nods and kisses her. "I don't know what I would be doing right now without you here. Thank you for giving me another chance, and I swear that I won't screw up like I did last time."

"Let's get back to bed. You're gonna need a lot of energy when you go visit Sadie today."

* * *

Lucas knocks on Kaitlyn's apartment door to pick Sadie up for his visitation day. Even that expression itself reminds him of prisoners have to do. It takes a minute, but a woman, who isn't Kaitlyn, opens the door.

"Hello? May I ask you who you are?" She asks.

"I'm-"

"Daddy!" Lucas hears the happy squeal of his little girl. She runs past the woman standing at the door and hugs Lucas's leg instantly.

"Oh! You're Lucas! Okay. Would you like to come in for a minute? Sadie, do you want to go pack some of your toys to take with you and your father?" The woman asks.

Sadie nods and walks out of the living room, which is the first room that Lucas is brought into as he steps into the apartment. The woman takes her cleaning gloves off and sets them on the table. Lucas stands there wondering who she is before she takes a hint and realizes that she hasn't introduced herself.

"You must be wondering who I am. My name is Sophia. I am the babysitter slash maid slash cook for Kaitlyn and Sadie. I didn't know you were her father. Kaitlyn told me that Sadie's father wasn't around anymore, so I wasn't expecting a visit," Sophia says, faltering a bit when she tells her story.

Lucas remembers the conversation that Topanga had with him the day of the trial. He knows that this has to be that social worker in disguise that Topanga mentioned she was going to hire. He looks around to see if there was something in the room that could possibly be hiding a nanny cam in it. Topanga hasn't filled him in on the person she hired to document the situation, but Lucas can tell. He should become a detective.

"I was hired when Kaitlyn needed someone to look after her after her father left them," The woman continues to say with a shaking voice.

"You're lying," Lucas says. "You work for Topanga don't you?"

Sophia is hesitant before she answers. "Yes. I am the social worker that Topanga hired to go undercover for you. She told me not to let anyone notice, but somehow you caught on quickly. She told me that I have to keep an act up if I'm going to convince Kaitlyn and Sadie and even you that I'm an actual babysitter."

"Well, no offense, you might want to work on your act a little bit. Stick to your story because then you will be caught if you aren't careful," Lucas says.

"You're too intimidating. I couldn't help it that my lying wasn't any good," Sophia replies. "Anyway, I'm assuming you would like an update on the situation. Unfortunately, I can't tell you anything unless Topanga gives me orders to."

Lucas rolls his eyes. Of course she can't tell him anything. Topanga is a smart cookie, knowing that if this woman tells Lucas the real status of this custody thing that Lucas will get angry and lash out, making his chances to regain the custody harder.

"But..." Sophia begins. "If you were to ask individual questions like 'where in the hell is Kaitlyn at?' then I can't plead the fifth on that."

"Fine, where in the hell is Kaitlyn at?" Lucas asks.

"I would like to know that myself. She left last night, and I haven't heard from her since," Sophia answers. Lucas's eyes grow wider in shock. Is this girl serious?

"What? Well, did she tell you where she was going? Has she done this before?" Lucas asks.

Sophia nods. "She just told me that she was going out. She's done this twice before. It's amazing that she gets anytime with that little girl."

"Is Sadie in any kind of danger while she's here?" Lucas asks.

"You're just lucky that I'm here, I'll tell you that, and that's all that I can tell you," Sophia responds. Lucas feels the anger bubble on the inside, but this will all come back on her when he gets custody of Sadie again. He has to push those feelings away when Sadie enters the room again and immediately walks over to Lucas, wanting to be picked up. When he picks her up, she wraps her arms around him.

"I miss you so much, daddy," Sadie tells him.

"I miss you too, munchkin. But daddy, Maya, and Mrs. Matthews are working as much as we can to get you back, okay?" Lucas tells her. Sadie nods and lays her head on Lucas's shoulder. Sadie waves goodbye to Sophia as Lucas walks out of the apartment. He meets Maya back in their car.

"Maya!" Sadie squeals when she sees the blonde in the passenger seat. She quickly gives Maya a hug before climbing into her car seat where Lucas buckles her.

"Hey Sadie! I've missed you so much!" Maya says returning the hug.

"How's my little brudder or sister been?" Sadie asks.

"The baby is just fine but misses you too," Maya replies. Sadie smiles and looks out the window on the journey back to the penthouse.

Maya notices how angry Lucas looks and knows that something is wrong. She can even tell that something is wrong in the way that Sadie is acting. Something isn't right.

* * *

Lucas, Maya, and Sadie all sit down in the living room and watch a movie after going to the park and getting some ice cream. They run out of something to drink after a while, so Lucas stands up and grabs all of their cups.

"I'm going to go refill these right quick," He says. "I'll be right back."

Maya leans over to Sadie and says, "I'm going to go help your daddy. I'll be right back too. If you need anything just holler for us, okay?"

Sadie nods, and Maya follows Lucas into the kitchen where he's filling all the cups with some apple juice. Maya leans against the counter and sees the distraught look on Lucas's face.

"Did something happen while you were picking Sadie up?"

Lucas nods. He wants to tell her, but he has to be quiet because he doesn't want Sadie to hear. "When I walked up to the apartment that Kaitlyn lives in and knocked on the door to get Sadie, a different woman answered. Her name is Sophia, and she's the one who Topanga hired to look after Sadie while she's at Kaitlyn's."

"Okay. Did she tell you anything?" Maya asks.

"I'm so afraid that there is so much that's going on that she didn't tell me. I asked her where Kaitlyn was, and she told me that Kaitlyn left last night and hasn't been heard from since. She also told me that this isn't the first time that Kaitlyn has done this in the last month. She said that she was surprised that Kaitlyn is getting to spend any time with her," Lucas explains.

"Are you serious? I can't believe it," Maya says.

"I can. This is so typical of Kaitlyn. I don't want this to be taken horribly, but at least this will help me with getting Sadie back. This is the type of behavior that Topanga tried to get through to the judge. That's why I feel like so much happened behind closed door without our knowledge," Lucas says.

"I hope Topanga finds something."

Lucas sighs. "Me too." He checks the time on his phone and notices that it's getting late. "I need to take her back to Sophia. I am really going to have a tough time doing this, but if I take off with her, then I won't ever get her back."

Maya nods, "Do you want me to come with you?"

"No. I want to take her back there by myself. I appreciate it though. And I love you for always supporting us," Lucas replies. Maya kisses him and tells him goodbye before walking into the living room with him. When they walk back into the living room, they notice that Sadie has fallen asleep. She must've worn herself out after playing today. Lucas picks her up in his arms and turns her so that Maya can kiss her goodbye.

"Love you," Lucas says before walking out.

"Love you too."

* * *

 _ **Alright! This was the chapter before the plot twist! I hope y'all like it. I'm gonna try to update it as soon as I can! (So much stuff is going to happen in the next chapter so be prepared for anything!)  
**_

 _ **I will also be updating Two Way Door as soon as I can, so look out for that!**_

 _ **Love y'all!**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**Hi guys! I am in love with all of you! Thank y'all so much for continuing to show your support for this story and for me as an author. I love writing stories, and I love writing stories for y'all.**_

 _ **Before I start this (very exciting) chapter I do want to say that I am going to put my other story, Two Way Door, on hold until I finish this story. I'm not really sure how much longer this story is going to be because I still have a few minor storylines to finish before I can wrap up this story all together. So this story is my main priority on here right now, but I will get back to Two Way Door as soon as I can.  
**_

 _ **Anyway! Enjoy! There may or may not be a huge surprise at the end. (There will be a huge surprise at the end)  
**_

* * *

"I love you, sweetpea. I had such a fun time with you today, and I hope I can see you again soon," Lucas says, kissing the forehead of his sleepy little girl who is now in her relatively new bed in her relatively new home.

"I love you too, daddy. I had a fun too," Sadie replies. Lucas gives her one more hug, and he really doesn't want to let go of her. He has to resist the urge to snatch her up and run away with her, but he lets go and lets his daughter to go to sleep.

As he leaves Sadie's bedroom, Lucas sees Sophia, the babysitter slash social worker who has been, pretty much, taking care of Sadie for last month. Sophia is asleep on the couch in the living room. Lucas touches her arm to wake her up. She obviously hasn't been asleep that long because she woke up immediately at Lucas's gesture.

"Hey. Would it be against Topanga's rules if you call Maya and I whenever Kaitlyn decides to show up?" Lucas asks. "I would ask if I could stay until Kaitlyn comes back, but I don't think a court would find that appropriate."

"Yes. I'll call you or Maya whenever Kaitlyn comes home. I know that it takes a while to get back to your penthouse, so I have both of your numbers just in case. I'll see you next time," Sophia says. Lucas nods and leaves Kaitlyn's apartment.

Once he reaches the parking garage he has that feeling that something isn't right. He don't know why, but he feels like he's going to have a panic attack and tries to rush back to his penthouse where Maya is waiting for him.

* * *

Riley Matthews-Minkus is staring out the window of her bedroom. Farkle is sound asleep in their bed, but Riley just can't get any sleep. She walks over to her nightstand and gets her cell phone out of the drawer. She walks over to the window and dials Maya's number.

It rings a few times before she answers. "Hey, Honey. You okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm just a little worried about you and Lucas," Riley says. "We've barely talked since the trial, and I just can't help but feel like Sadie being taken away is my fault."

"Riley. You're definitely insane if you think that this is your fault. You have been nothing but supportive of Lucas and Sadie since Kaitlyn showed up and served those custody papers to Lucas. And I know he hasn't talked to you since the trial, but he's barely talked to me, and we live together. He's just been trying to cope with it, and it's hard on him right now."

"I know. I just wanted to make sure that you and Lucas weren't mad at me. But that's also not the only reason," Riley confesses.

"What's the matter? Is everything okay with you and the baby? Is Farkle okay?" Maya asks.

Riley silently giggles. "Yea. We're all fine. I just have one of those feelings that something bad is going to happen, and it's been keeping me up."

"What's making you feel that way?" Maya asks.

"I'm not sure. But that's the main reason why I'm calling. I just want to make sure that you're okay. I'll drop by tomorrow and see you. Goodnight, peaches," Riley says.

"Okay. Night, Riles."

Riley hangs up and puts her phone back in the nightstand. She crawls back into bed where she stirs Farkle awake from his sleep. He turns to meet her eyes and sits up.

"Are you okay?" Farkle asks, laying his hand on Riley's growing baby belly. Riley lays her hand over Farkle's and lays her head on Farkle's shoulder.

"I guess. I've just got this really bad feeling, and I can't shake it. I feel like something bad is going to happen," Riley explains.

"Do you want to go to the hospital to make sure the baby is okay?" Farkle asks. Riley looks at Farkle and shrugs. She doesn't know how to explain this feeling. However, just as she's about to make a decision, she and Farkle feel a little bump hit both of their hands. Riley's eyes automatically begin to gleam as well as Farkle's.

"Did you feel that?" Riley asks.

"Yes! Our boy is starting to kick!" Farkle says as he and Riley continue to feel the baby's kicks. "Wow! He's really going at it. I can't believe our baby boy is kicking."

"I know," Riley cries. She kisses Farkle's lips and subsides her feelings of eeriness.

* * *

Just as Maya is about to go to bed, she hears a knock on the front door. She makes her way over to the frantic knocks and quickly opens the door.

"Mrs. Matthews? Is everything okay? It's almost midnight," Maya says.

Topanga walks into the penthouse and sets a few files on the coffee table of the living room. "I am here because I finally found the injustice of the results of the custody case."

"You did? What is it?" Maya asks. She rushes to sit down beside Topanga and looks at the contents of the files that Topanga is spreading out in front of her.

"I called for a few favors, and I found a lot of interesting things about Kaitlyn, her attorney, and the judge. And trust me, if what's in this file doesn't call for a different custody hearing, then the justice system is more screwed up then I ever thought it could be," Topanga begins.

Maya looks at the stuff Topanga takes out of the file. There are pictures from the day of the trial that show Mr. Bennett looking on at Kaitlyn and the judge shaking hands out in the hallway before Lucas and Sadie even arrived. The next picture shows the judge and Mr. Bennett hugging the judge while the court was supposed to be in recess. Maya can't believe these pictures. There was something wrong with the results of the trial, but this is something that isn't expected.

"I also got the judge's cell phone records, and it turns out the Mr. Bennett and the judge have been secretly seeing each other. That's why she was able to be a judge for a court case that Mr. Bennett was apart of. It makes sense now. But that's not the only thing I found," Topanga says.

"I can't believe this happened to Lucas. To Sadie! I mean, it's like they didn't care that they were completely changing the life of a little four year old girl. It's ridiculous," Maya says.

"Oh! But listen to this! I also got the recent cell phone records from Mr. Bennett and Kaitlyn, and it turns out Kaitlyn is paying Mr. Bennett with sexual favors. The judge has no idea of the affair, but I bet if she did during the trial, then Sadie would still be here with Lucas," Topanga says.

Maya honestly feels sick to her stomach right now. There are so many things she wants to do to Kaitlyn, but she has to keep her calm because Lucas would be the one to do something first, and he probably wouldn't do anything because he doesn't want Sadie to be scared or him or teach her the wrong way of handling situations.

"I thought I would just drop by right quick and show you these. I'll keep them here so that Lucas can see them, but I'll have to get them in the morning and show them to another judge and convince the court system to let us have another trial," Topanga says.

Maya nods and walks with Topanga to the front door. "Thank you so much, Mrs. Matthews. We owe you so much."

"I would do anything for you kids. Thank you both for trusting me with this," Topanga says as she gives Maya a hug and leaves.

* * *

Lucas grabs the keys to his penthouse, but when he reaches the front door of his penthouse, he realizes that he doesn't need them. The front door is wide open. He puts his keys up and quietly walks into the penthouse. He looks in the living room and sees that his glass coffee table is shattered. He looks at the papers scattered in the floor and sees that they're pictures and cell phone records.

"What the hell happened here?" He asks himself. "Maya?"

He runs out of the living room and sees her. She is laying at the bottom of the staircase, unconscious. She has a bruise around her eye and a cut on her lip. She also has a few cuts on her arms and one on her neck from the broken glass coffee table. Panic immediately settles in him, but he has to stay calm to get her to a hospital. Why does this have to happen to her?

"Maya! Maya! Wake up!" He yells, shaking her shoulder. He picks her up in his arms and carries her outside the building to his car.

"You're gonna be okay, Maya! You hear me! You and the baby!" Lucas yells.

Once Lucas rushes to the hospital. He grabs Maya out of the back of his car and carries her inside the hospital. He walks through the front doors.

"Help! She needs help!" He yells, grabbing the attention of the doctors, nurses, and other people.

Two nurses rush over with a gurney, and Lucas gently lays Maya down on it. A doctor comes over and begins to check her pulse and her eyes.

"You've got to help her. She's pregnant," Lucas informs the doctor.

"Tell me what happened," The doctor orders.

Lucas gulps before he begins. "I was dropping my daughter off at her mother's house. When I got back to our home, the front door was open, so I looked around. The living room was a mess, and I found her at the bottom of the stairs. It was obvious that she either fell or was pushed."

"She appears to have a contusion on the back of her head. We're gonna have to run some tests. Lets take her to emergency one," The doctor orders. The nurses wheel Maya back. Lucas tries to follow but is stopped by the doctor. "Sir, we're going to have to ask you to please stay out here. I will do my best to help her and the baby."

Lucas doesn't fight it. He just goes and sits down in the waiting area with the other people. He pulls out his phone and begins to make calls.

* * *

"Lucas!" Riley calls from the hospital entrance. She has tears in her eyes when she walks over to him and gives him a hug. Farkle is next to do so. "What happened to her?"

Lucas is still in shock. "I-I don't know. I had to drop Sadie off at Kaitlyn's apartment, and Kaitlyn lives almost two hours away. I come home to find my front door open. The living room is a mess and then I saw Maya laying at the bottom of the stairs."

Riley sobs. "Oh my God. Have you heard anything about her?"

"No. I've been here for almost an hour, and they haven't told me anything, yet," Lucas replies, sitting down with Riley and Farkle.

They sit in the waiting room for a little while longer before Cory and Topanga walk through the hospital doors. They immediately walk over to Lucas, Riley, and Farkle.

"Lucas? What happened? I was just with Maya how did she get hurt?" Topanga asks.

Lucas shrugs. "I found her at the bottom of the stairs when I came home from dropping Sadie off at Kaitlyn's. The living room was a mess, and I went to find Maya, and she was at the bottom of the staircase."

"Oh my goodness. We need to find out what happened," Topanga says. "Come with me."

Lucas follows Topanga to the front desk where she asks the nurse, "Excuse me? I was wondering if you have any updates on Maya Hart? She was just brought in."

The nurse types the name into the computer and starts looking through the file that has been pulled up. She scrolls for a long time and tries to find something that she can tell the two worried people in front of her.

"I'm sorry. I don't see anything for today except that she has been brought in," The nurse replies. Topanga and Lucas nod, but before they can get back to their chairs, they are stopped by the doctor.

"Excuse me? You two are here for Maya Hart, right?" The doctor asks. Riley, Farkle, and Cory hear the name from the doctor and walk over to hear what's going on with their friend. "Maya is going to be fine. She has a contusion on the back of her head from where she fell down the stairs. She has a few bruises on her ribs, so she'll be sore for a while. She's awake if you want to go see her."

"Thank you, doctor," Lucas says before walking back to Maya's room with Topanga. Riley, Farkle, and Cory wait because there can only be two people back at a time.

Lucas knocks on the door where Maya is staring at the wall beside her. She has her hand on her stomach, and she's trembling. Lucas walks over to her and wraps his arms around her.

"I'm so glad you're okay. You have no idea how scared I was when I found you," Lucas says. He notices that Maya's not saying anything, and he's worried again. "What is it? Is the baby okay?"

Maya shrugs and tries to hold back tears. "I don't know. They're running tests, but I don't know."

Lucas grabs her hand and squeezes it gently. He doesn't know what to say either because he's just as scared that something is wrong with the baby.

"Maya? Can you tell us what happened?" Topanga asks.

Maya nods. "I was about to go to bed. I was going to show Lucas that stuff you brought over tonight in the morning so I left it on the coffee table. Anyway, someone knocked on the front door, and I didn't look to see who it was because I thought it was Lucas. I thought he might've forgotten his key. But when I opened the door it was Kaitlyn, and she was with her lawyer. She was so mad, and I didn't know why. She started pushing me and accusing me of stealing everything away from her. She then told me to tell her where Sadie was, and I told her that she wasn't at the penthouse. But she didn't believe me."

"What else did she do?" Topanga asks.

"Well. She started looking through the house with Mr. Bennett. He walked into the living room and saw those files that you left me. He said that he was going to put my ass in jail along with Lucas, and he started pushing me. Kaitlyn saw everything in the file and punched me in the face, and Mr. Bennett was the one who pushed me into the coffee table. He dragged me upstairs by my hair and tried to make me tell him where Sadie was, and I told him that she wasn't here. I tried to fight back, and I got a few good punches. Then I don't remember what happened. I guess he pushed me downstairs," Maya explains.

"Lucas, you said that the pictures and records that were in that file were spread across the floor?" Topanga asks. Lucas nods, making Topanga smirk.

"What?" Maya asks.

"Mr. Bennett is such a JV lawyer. He's young, and he just made the biggest rookie mistake of his life," Topanga replies.

"What do you mean?" Lucas asks.

"Mr. Bennett is probably half way to another country right now, but he didn't take the evidence that's going to incriminate him with him. Plus, Maya was attacked in her home. The stuff in that file is apart of a criminal investigation. And Mr. Bennett's and Kaitlyn's fingerprints will be all over them. This is a good thing for you, Lucas, because this will tell the court that Kaitlyn is a completely unfit mother, and Sadie will be placed back with the parent that she wants to be with and the parent that she should be with," Topanga explains.

Lucas and Maya look at each other. There are so many overwhelming emotions that both of them are feeling right now, but happiness is one of them.

"Okay. But what did Kaitlyn mean when she asked Maya where Sadie was? I dropped her off at Kaitlyn's apartment, tucked her into bed, and left. You can call her babysitter," Lucas says.

"Oh I know. Sophia has Sadie and is taking her to a safe place until the police catch Kaitlyn for assault. Don't worry, Lucas. She's safe, and she's excited to see her daddy when the court will allow it. And this time, I made sure of it, this court won't be so biased. We'll probably be in there for a few minutes, and Sadie will get to come home with you," Topanga says.

Lucas gives Topanga a big hug. "Thank you so much, Mrs. Matthews. I don't know what I can do to repay you."

"Just take care of that beautiful little girl and that beautiful little baby in her tummy," Topanga says.

Maya's face drops. "I hope he can."

A nurse walks in shortly after Topanga leaves. This nurse is wheeling an ultrasound machine in with her. She gets the supplies ready and tells Maya what the doctor ordered her to do.

"I am going to take a few pictures and try to find a heartbeat. If I can do that, then I don't see any reason for this baby to not be healthy. If I can't find a heartbeat, then we'll go from there," The nurse says as she squirts a little bit of the jelly onto Maya's little bulging belly.

Lucas grabs Maya's hand and squeezes it. Maya is chewing the fingernails on her other hand as the doctor plugs the machine up the correct way.

"No matter what happens. I want you to know that I love you," Lucas tells Maya. She nods and lays her head on Lucas's shoulder and hides her face. She's so anxious to hear a heartbeat, but she doesn't even know if she will.

"Okay. I'm going to start," The nurse warns before touching Maya's belly with the machine.

She starts moving the things around, and there are no sounds coming from it. Maya begins to sob as the nurse keeps moving the wand around. Lucas wraps his arm around Maya's head. Her sobs get louder until the nurse flips a switch on the machine.

"There we go," She says. "Listen to that drum."

Maya looks up from Lucas's shoulder. "You mean?"

"That's right. You're baby boy is going to be just fine."

"A boy!"

* * *

 _ **Yay! End of this chapter! I hope y'all liked this chapter. So much good news! But still so much to go. Maybe not that much, but I'm not sure yet. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.**_

 _ **Hope y'all liked it!**_

 _ **Love y'all!**_


	16. Chapter 16

_**I hope y'all know how much I love y'all. I will always be grateful for the sweet reviews and for all of you who just read it. I'm not one of those people who cares about reviews. As long as I see that people are reading my story. That's all that matter. The reviews just let me know that I'm doing a good job. Even if I wasn't doing a good job, then I would still continue to write because it's a fun hobby, and it's a fun career (for me) that I would like to dabble in.**_

 _ **I appreciate all of you so much! I hope y'all enjoy this chapter! It's a sweet one!**_

 _ **There will be another surprise at the end of this chapter. Then we get into some more dark areas. Then another surprise at the end of the story. (Only this one won't end in a cliffhanger. Maybe.)**_

* * *

Lucas helps Maya walk into the penthouse. It's been a rough couple of days for everybody, especially Maya. Lucas just can't believe how resilient she is. After everything she's been through, she still manages to wake up and smile at Lucas and say "Good morning". It's really amazing how a human can endure all of this physical and emotional pain and pick themselves back up through willpower.

"You should be getting up to bed. It's late, and I know that you and junior need to get y'all's sleep," Lucas says.

Maya giggles. "So you're saying that his name is going to be Lucas Jr.?"

"It was worth mentioning," Lucas replies stopping at the bottom of the stairs where Maya is. He's about to follow her when he still remembers that the living room is a mess. "I wish I could clean this glass up, but I don't know when I'll get the okay to do so from the police."

"It'll be okay. Just don't step foot in there until you are given the okay to do so," Maya says. Lucas follows her upstairs to their bedroom and lays down on the bed beside her. They are both looking up at the ceiling. Maya moves her hand to meet Lucas's. She locks her fingers in between his.

"Can you believe how much our lives have changed since we've gotten back together?" Maya asks.

Lucas sighs. "No. Everything that's happened to us since I found out that you were Sadie's ballet teacher feels like a dream. I know that we're not the only people to ever go through so much at one time, but when you're going through it, it feels like you're the only person who has that problem."

"Don't I know that," Maya mumbles.

Lucas pulls his hand away from hers and wraps his arm around her and pulls her to his side. She cuddles closer to him and breaths him in. A thing that she never thought she would get to do ever again after high school. She knows that he knows he hurt her when he cheated on her with Kaitlyn in high school. He just doesn't know how badly it hurt her. The only person who knows how badly she was hurt is Riley. But Maya figures that because they are back together, and they are trying to be happy despite all the bad things that have happened to the both of them, that she doesn't need to explain to him how much he hurt her in high school. It's water under the bridge to the both of them.

"So. Did Topanga tell you when Sadie was going to get to come home?" Maya asks.

"No. I'm just relieved that she's away from Kaitlyn, and that she's gonna get to come home to us. I know that two months isn't that long to other people, but when it's your kid that's away for that long, it's a different story. It felt like forever," Lucas explains.

Maya lays her hand on her growing tummy. "I hope you never have to go through that again. It honestly broke my heart to see you so heartbroken. I tried to put on a strong face for you, but when I got to be by myself, I couldn't keep that face on."

"Thank you, Maya. I know that you were just as heartbroken, and I couldn't even do anything to help you either. I couldn't take care of you or our baby boy, and I wish I would've done it differently," Lucas says.

"You don't have to thank me, and you don't have to feel bad. I want to be here for you. You've been there for me when I needed you. Like I said before, I want to be here whenever you need me."

"I love you, Maya Hart."

"I love you too, Huckleberry."

* * *

Lucas is awakened the next morning by Maya. The first thing he sees when he opens his eyes is her beautiful smile. He groggily sits up and follows Maya up to the roof, where she drags him.

"What are we doing up here?" Lucas asks.

"I know that we didn't get a lot of sleep last night, but I wanted to watch the sunrise. I just didn't want to watch it rise alone," Maya says, sitting down in an empty chair. Lucas sits in the empty chair next to her and looks at the view.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Lucas asks.

"No. Because I had to answer the door to the police who dropped by to clean the scene themselves. They also took those files that Topanga dropped off as evidence," Maya answers.

"Why would they do that so late at night?"

"Who knows?" Maya replies.

They look out in the distance and see the sky get brighter. It's a beautiful sight, and the sun hasn't even appeared yet. Lucas watches Maya soak up this moment. Her eyes are gleaming at the real life masterpiece happening in front of her, while Lucas gleams at the masterpiece sitting beside him. He honestly doesn't know what he would do without her. He knows that this situation would be ending up in a different way had she not reappeared in his life.

Maya catches him staring at her. "What is it?"

"I don't want to sound too cheesy because I know how you're not a fan of cheesy things, but I just can't help but stare at you. You are just so beautiful. Very breathtaking," Lucas replies. He smiles at the ruby red tint that coats her cheeks.

"You dork," She says. "But thank you. I know it was cheesy, but I always appreciate any compliment."

Lucas smiles and stands up. Maya gives him a weird look when he moves in front of her and holds his hand out. Maya lays her hand in Lucas's and allows him to help her out of the chair. He walks a few steps closer towards the view and stares at her.

"What are you doing?" Maya asks.

Lucas moves to where he's down on one knee and immediately catches the change in Maya's facial expression.

"I know that I don't have a ring, and I know that this might seem crazy to you, but the only crazy to me is how I feel about you. I love you, Maya Penelope Hart. And I want to marry you. Do you want to marry me?"

Maya looks at him in complete shock with tears in her eyes. "I can't believe your non-cliche way of asking me."

"What kind of answer is that?" Lucas asks with a hint of laughter in his voice.

"All I know what to say is that you better write vows that will have all the guests, me, and the preacher crying," Maya answers. "Yes. I do want to marry you."

Lucas picks Maya up and kisses her.

Once he pulls away, he rests his forehead on hers, and he can feel that their luck is starting to turn around.

* * *

Lucas and Maya knock on the front door of the Matthews' home. Topanga called Lucas a few hours after he and Maya came in from watching the sunrise and said that he needed to meet her at her house.

Cory answers the door and lets them inside. Lucas's mind is all over the place, a little bit afraid to hear what Topanga has to tell him, but Maya is holding onto his arm and reassuring him that everything will okay. Topanga walks down the steps to the living room where she tells Maya and Lucas to sit.

"Why did you call us?" Lucas asks.

"Well. I wanted to see how you both were doing. I know we've been around each other lot with the trial and stuff, but that's all we ever talked about. I just want to make sure that you both are okay," She says.

Lucas smiles at Maya. "Something tells me that everything is going to be just fine. Once Sadie gets to come home, though, everything will be perfect."

Topanga smiles and nods. "Wait...What are you two hiding?"

"Well...how did you know we were hiding something?" Maya asks.

"I'm a mother. And event though I'm not your mother, you've always been like a second daughter to me, so I know when you're hiding something. Plus, Riley learned how to keep secrets from me from you anyway."

"Okay. We didn't have a chance to talk about how we wanted to announce this, but Lucas and I are getting married," Maya replies.

Topanga's jaw drops, along with Cory's, before they both stand up and laugh. They laugh with happiness in their tones and give congratulatory hugs to Maya and Lucas.

"We knew this was going to happen one day. We just didn't think it would take this long!" Topanga says before she sits back down.

"You guys are the first people to know, and we'd like it to be kept on the down low. We want to tell our families and friends in a special way," Maya says.

"Oh of course. But I don't think you'll be able to keep that secret for long..." Topanga says in a voice that says she's hiding something.

"What do you mean?" Lucas asks.

"Come on out!" Topanga yells.

Maya and Lucas look at each other before hearing a door slam. They look in the direction of the noise and see Riley walk down the steps, holding the hand of Lucas's daughter.

"Daddy!" Sadie squeals with excitement. She runs over to Lucas who is completely caught off guard with that surprise. With tears in his eyes, Lucas opens his arms and engulfs his daughter in a hug that she will never be able to escape.

"Sadie!" He yells, hugging her. He looks at Topanga. "How? How long has she been here?"

"She's only been here for one night. I had to wait for the police to clean up the living room before they would let her come home. So I called a few friends at the police station and asked them for a favor," Topanga explains.

Lucas kisses his daughter's head and looks at her. "You get to come home now! You have no idea how much we missed you."

"I missed y'all too, daddy! This is the best day ever! I get to come home, and you and Maya are getting married! I'm so happy!" Sadie says as she begins to cry. Lucas rubs her back as she lets out all of her emotions. Riley walks over to the both of them with tears in her eyes as well.

"I'm so happy for you peaches," She gives Maya a great big hug. "You too Mr. Peaches."

Lucas knows that to other people, this might be exaggeration of emotions. But when someone receives so much happy news in one day, it gets to a point where it does get overwhelming. He feels overwhelmed, but it's such a good feeling to him right now. He doesn't care about how he's showing his feelings.

He's ready to take his daughter and his fiance home.

* * *

 _ **Alrighty! I hope y'all liked this chapter! I hope it wasn't too mushy! Again, I'm not sure how many more chapter there will be because there is still a lot of stuff to finish. I'm just so happy that y'all are continuing to read!**_

 _ **Next chapter won't be as mushy (it might not be as happy either).**_

 _ **Love y'all!**_


	17. Chapter 17

_**Hey y'all! I am so happy with the dynamic of the story, and I am even more happy that y'all are happy with it too. I know that you can read a story like this and think "How much can a group of characters go through?" And I do feel that I sometimes overdo the dramatic effects of the events that have happened in the story. But then I think about the events of One Tree Hill (especially season 3, wow!), and I think about soap operas. (General Hospital is my fave!) And lots of other shows where a group of characters or just one character goes through a lot, and it seems like they never get a break, and I feel better about my story. You know what they say... an artist is their own worst critic.**_

 _ **Anyway (Sorry for rambling). I hope y'all like this chapter! (I would say enjoy, but I know that you probably won't. At least at the end.)  
**_

* * *

Sadie has slept in the same bed as Lucas and Maya for almost a month. Lucas doesn't want her to sleep in her own bed yet, considering how scary things got two months ago. Sadie doesn't complain; she loves sleeping the same bed as her daddy and future step-mommy. She's been enjoying all of her made up time with Lucas. And Lucas has really loved having his little girl back in the same house with him. He thanks God everyday for sending her back to him.

Maya is now five months pregnant, and they still haven't told anybody the sex of the baby. They've been too focused of getting a routine back in order for Sadie, but everybody does know that they're engaged. Maya has Riley to thank for that. That girl can't keep a secret for long. She probably went home the same day she found out and told Farkle immediately. But it's okay. It's kind of difficult to announce something like that to people.

Lucas sits up in his bed, looking at his two favorite girls before he goes downstairs to the living room. He picks up the remote and starts flipping through the channels.

It's not too long before he hears tiny footsteps approach him behind the couch. He turns around and sees his daughter staring at him. He smiles and picks her up, placing her on his lap.

"What are you doing up, squirt?" He asks Sadie.

Sadie giggles at the nickname before shrugging. "I just wanted to spend some time with my daddy. But since you don't want me to, I guess I'll go back upstairs with Maya."

Lucas laughs before he grabs her sides and starts tickling her. "Was it Maya who taught you to say that?"

Sadie's laughter fills the whole penthouse, and Lucas stops before he wakes Maya up. "Of course it was her, daddy. She's the funniest."

"Nuh uh! I'm the funniest!" Lucas argues back playfully.

"Eh..." Sadie says. Lucas tickles her again, setting off her giggles. A sound that he could listen to forever. A sound that he's happy to hear again.

He stops tickling her and places her beside him. "I'm really happy you're home, Sadie."

"Me too, daddy. That lady was mean to me," Sadie confesses.

Lucas would usually look shocked but knowing that Sadie was with Kaitlyn just reminds him that he shouldn't be surprised to hear that.

"How was she mean to you?" Lucas asks.

"The first night I spent the night, she yelled at me because I couldn't stop , she let the other kids staying there be mean to me. She told me I had to do whatever they told me, but they told me to do things that are crazy. They told me I had to clean their room to use the bathroom. They called me a crybaby and a lot of other mean names. They would try to beat me up, but Sophia stopped them before they could," Sadie explains. Lucas has to stop himself from getting angry in front of Sadie. He takes a deep breath before pulling her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that," He says as he tries not to cry.

"It's okay, daddy. It's not your fault. Is it okay if I go to my room to play with some toys?" Sadie asks.

"Of course, sweetie. Go ahead and get dressed because we've got some things to do today, okay?" Lucas asks.

Sadie nods and runs upstairs, saying good morning to Maya, who was standing there the whole time. She makes her way to the spot on the couch beside Lucas and wipes away the tears from the corners of her eyes. Lucas pats her knee and wraps his arm around her.

"It's so horrible what happened to her," Maya says.

"Yea. But she's so strong. She didn't cry or anything. It just amazes me sometimes. I wonder where she gets it. I know it's not from me, and it definitely a'int from her mother," Lucas says.

"She gets it from you. You've always been strong. You used to know that back in middle school. I guess going to high school just tore that confidence down. But you never lost your strength. You just need to find it again," Maya says.

"I think I got it back when Sadie was born. I just never realized it...or felt it."

Maya was about to say something when Sadie ran downstairs and jumped on the couch. "Maya! Are am I gonna have a brudder or a sister?"

Maya smiles at the little girl. "Tell you what. Lets invite our family and friends and announce it to them. Today. Is that okay with you? That way you and everybody else can find out at the same time."

Sadie's smile grows bigger. "I would love to do that! Daddy, can we please do that?"

"Yea, daddy, can we?" Maya asks.

Lucas chuckles. "Sure. Why do you go invite Riley and Farkle and tell them to invite everyone. Maya and I have some things that need to be worked out before we leave."

Sadie nods and runs back upstairs, earning laughter from Maya and Lucas.

* * *

Maya and Riley are decorating the living room of the penthouse in pink and blue colored balloons and streamers. There's a giant banner that is covered with a purple colored sheet that will read "It's a boy!" At the door is black board that has been divided into two sections. One of the sides reads 'girl', and the other side reads 'boy'. People will put a tally mark under the gender they think it'll be. And knowing Zay, he probably has a poll that he can win some money off of.

"I'm so happy for you, peaches," Riley says, tying a balloon around a table.

Maya smiles. "I'm happy for you too, honey. Look at how pregnant you are. I am so excited to meet another person who is just like you and Farkle."

Riley laughs. "If you would've said that to me our first two years in high school, then I probably would've laughed right in your pretty face."

"It's crazy how much things have changed, but we're still with the same people."

"I agree. I'll be right back. I have to get some more streamers," Riley says. Maya nods and continues to blow some balloons up for the living room.

It doesn't take long for Riley to come back and starts putting streamers everywhere. She also helps set up some fun games for the little kids who are coming to play with Sadie. She sits down on the couch and feels her baby move around in her belly. Maya laughs at the look on Riley's face.

"Has your baby started kicking yet?" Riley asks.

"No, but I can feel the baby moving around. I try to tickle it, and it's worked before, but it depends really," Maya says. Riley smiles and moves her fingers around her belly to see if it would tickle her baby.

"I can tickle him when he comes out of me," Riley says.

Maya sits down next to Riley on the couch. "Riley, I have an important question to ask you. I already know what you're going to say, but I still just want to make sure."

"What is it?"

"How do you feel about being my maid of honor?"

"Maya! I would love to be your maid of honor! I can't believe you even had to ask," Riley says, hugging her best friend. "And this would make up for you not being my maid of honor at mine and Farkle's wedding."

"Didn't you two just getting married in front of your parents, your grandparents, and his parents?" Maya asks.

"Yes. But still..." She replies, laughing.

Farkle walks into the living room and looks at Maya. "You ready to throw a party? The guests are coming in."

Maya nods and walks out of the living room with Riley. Their arms are locked together.

* * *

Everybody has had a nice time at the party. Topanga and Cory showed up, along with others from the Matthews family. Lucas's parents showed up as wells as his agent, Nick, and a couple other boxer friends that he has. Zay, Kala, Jasmine, and Tia showed up. Friends from both of their work places showed up. They all enjoyed some nice food and a pretty cake. But everybody is ready to know what the sex of Maya and Lucas's baby is.

"Okay! I hope everybody has their bets in place, because it's time for Lucaya to reveal the gender of their baby," Zay says, grabbing everybody's attention.

"Lucaya?" Lucas asks Zay.

"It's y'alls couple name, just go with it," Zay says, earning a chuckle from Lucas.

"I've got a hundred bucks on boy!"

"I've got two hundred that they're having a girl!"

Other people shouted out their bets while Lucas and Maya make their way to the covered banner. Riley is standing at one large box that is dressed as a present, but secretly holds a bundle of blue balloons. Farkle is standing at the other large box.

"Ready!" Maya yells. "One! Two! Three!"

Maya and Lucas pull the sheet off the "It's a boy!" banner, and Farkle and Riley opens the boxes of blue balloons, and everybody screams with joy.

"Congratulations, Lucas and Maya!" Everybody yells.

Sadie jumps up into Lucas's arms. "I'm gonna have a little brudder!"

* * *

After everybody left. Maya and Lucas are cleaning up the aftermath. Riley and Farkle stayed after to help them, and Sadie is helping too. She's been too excited to sit still, so she decided to help clean up.

"It was pretty cool how we told everybody that we're having a boy," Lucas says, picking the streamers off the curtains in the living room.

"Yea. I just think we could've been a little bit more creative with it," Maya replies.

"Well we only had three hours to get everything ready," Lucas says. "Maybe we can think of something else cool like that when we have another kid."

"Another kid? Who says we'll have another kid?" Maya asks playfully.

Lucas walks over to Maya and wraps his arm around her and pulls her closer to him. "I know that we'll have more children. I want a lot of kids, and I know that you love kids. Plus, you are just so beautiful. Can you blame me for making a baby with you?"

Maya grabs the collar of his shirt. "I think," She says before pausing. "You need to get away from me."

Lucas laughs. "Why? Am I turning you on?"

"No! It's the hormones!" Maya argues back like she used to with him. Lucas laughs and mutters 'I turned you on' before continuing to take streamers down.

"You two are just too cute," Riley says, walking into the kitchen and leaning against the wall. She looks more tired than usual. Almost sickly.

"Riles? Are you okay? You don't look so good," Maya says. She walks over to her best friend and places the back of her hand against Riley's forehead.

"I don't know. I think I feel fine," Riley replies. "I'm just tired."

"Maybe you and Farkle should stay the night here. Just in case," Maya suggests.

"Sounds like fun," Riley and Farkle agree.

Maya turns around and hears a thud against the ground. She turns around and sees Lucas and Farkle kneeling at the side of her best friend.

"Riley!"

* * *

 _ **So that last part escalated quickly. Am I right? The next chapter will explain what happened to her. We'll also get two surprise guests! I hope y'all love this. (And I'll have an explanation for the surprise guests.)**_

 _ **Hope y'all loved it!**_

 _ **Love y'all!**_


	18. Chapter 18

_**Hey y'all! I know that I thank y'all at the beginning of every chapter, but I am beyond grateful for all of the views and reviews that you all leave for this story. I'm sad to say it, but this story is actually almost over. I don't know how well I wrote the end of the last chapter because the only thing I was worried about was that nobody would get what happened.**_

 _ **If you don't know what I'm talking about, then go read the last chapter, and if you still don't get it then it'll be explained at the beginning of this chapter.**_

 _ **Hope y'all like it!**_

* * *

It all was a blur for Maya. She was talking to her best friend one minute, and the next minute her best friend is passed out in the floor. Lucas and Farkle immediately ran over to her, but Maya just stood there. She was afraid. Now she is sitting in the waiting room of the hospital with Lucas and Farkle's parents, and she's still afraid. If something happens to Riley or her baby boy, then Maya doesn't know what she's going to do. Riley is her life jacket. Every time Maya was going through a dilemma, Riley was always there make sure she doesn't sink and drown. And when her and Riley lost contact with each other, that's when Maya got into a relationship with Tony. That's when Maya sunk to her lowest point.

"It's going to be alright," Lucas tries to comfort her. "Riley is strong. She can get through this."

"I should've done something besides stand there like an idiot," Maya confesses immediately, almost interrupting Lucas.

"You're doing what she was doing every time we brought you here," Lucas says. "You're here, and you're supporting her, and you're supporting Farkle," Lucas says.

"I'm sorry, Lucas. I know that you're trying to make me feel better, but I can't. Not until I know that she and the baby are going to be okay," Maya replies. Lucas nods and grabs Maya's hand, locking their fingers together. He pulls out his phone and begins to dial a number.

"I need to call my mom and see if Sadie is asleep yet," Lucas says with a yawn.

Sadie was getting ready for bed when she heard Riley's body hit the floor. She saw how scared Farkle, Lucas, and Maya looked from the top of the stairs. Lucas stayed with Sadie until his mother showed up. He doesn't want Sadie to have to come to the hospital as late as it is, now.

Maya sees Cory and Topanga walk towards them in the waiting room. Lucas gets off the phone with his mother and stands up with Maya to meet Cory and Topanga.

"Is everything okay?" Maya asks.

Cory, with tears in his eyes, replies, "The doctor says she has pre-eclampsia."

"What's that?" Lucas asks.

"She has high blood pressure and protein in her urine. She's apparently had this throughout her pregnancy, but her blood pressure is too high for her to handle. They said it could kill her and the baby if they don't do anything about it," Cory explains.

Maya tries to keep herself from breaking down. "What are they going to do about it!"

"They'll have to deliver the baby through a c-section," Cory replies.

"But she's only eight months," Lucas says.

"If they don't do this..." Cory cries. He tries to compose himself. "If they don't do this. We could lose both of them."

* * *

Farkle pulls the latex gloves over his hands and puts a mask over his mouth and nose. He has to wear these scrubs because the doctors are performing a surgery, and they don't want any outside germs making their way into Riley's wound.

He walks into the operating room and stands by Riley's head. She still hasn't woken up, so she doesn't know that her son is coming into this world today. He gently caresses Riley's hair as he listens in on what the doctors are saying. He knows that he's a genius, but he's so scared right now. Everything the doctors are saying right now sounds like gibberish. He doesn't have a clue what is going on right now.

"We've made an incision, Mr. Minkus. We're going to go and get the baby and the placenta as fast as we can. We're going to do our best to save your wife and baby. Okay?" The doctor informs and asks. Farkle nods and looks down at his beautiful wife. And he thinks of how beautiful she really is. Not only on the outside, but the inside too.

Riley has always been nice to him. No matter how ironically ignorant he could be sometimes, she still always had nice things to say about him and others as well. Every time he felt like getting mad at the world for it's injustice towards him or his friends, he always reminded himself that he has a Riley Matthews. He couldn't believe the moment they confessed their feelings for each other. He has, of course, always been in love with her, but he had just gotten out of a relationship when that happened. She had just gotten out of one herself.

But that moment that they said "I love you" to each other, that was the moment that he knew that no matter who they end up in a relationship with, they were meant to be together. He also knew that she just needed a little time to realize that.

Farkle doesn't really listen to what the doctors are saying because most of what they're saying is medical stuff, which Farkle didn't go to college for. But then they said something that really caught his attention.

"Here he is!" The doctor says, pulling the newborn baby boy out of the incision. Farkle looks up and sees his son for the first time. The doctor holds him up for Farkle to see the crying infant.

"Mr. Minkus. Meet your son," The doctor says.

"I can't believe it," He says with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes.

A nurse comes and grabs the baby to clean him up and cut his umbilical cord and wrap him up in a blanket. She walks the baby over to an incubator and gently places the baby inside. She walks back over to Farkle with the incubator.

"If you'll follow me, Mr. Minkus," She says and walks out of the operating room. Farkle follows her to a room where Farkle's son will stay for close monitoring. The nurse places his son in the middle of the room and begins to place an oxygen mask over the baby's mouth.

"What are you doing?" Farkle asks. He begins to panic a little bit.

"Your baby is premature and his oxygen levels started dropping while we were retrieving him from the womb. The doctor told me to get this ready. While I was cleaning him up, I noticed that his chest was poking out a little bit. That's a sign of struggle. We're gonna monitor him while you get back to your wife. These next few hours will be critical for the both of them," The nurse explains.

Farkle sighs. "Okay. Thank you, nurse."

He walks out of the room that his son is in. He sees the same doctor who delivered his son and a few other nurses walking down the hallway. The doctor stops Farkle in the hallway.

"Mr. Minkus. Riley has been stitched up and sent to the ICU where she will be for the next thirty minutes. I just need to explain to you what happened when we told you to follow the nurse to the room with your son," The doctor began.

"Is she going to be okay now? What about my son?" Farkle asks.

"While I was stitching her up. Her vitals began to drop, and she crashed for a minute. We had to revive her with electric shock. She's going to be in a lot of pain, so we're gonna try our best to keep her sedated. We're going to monitor her vitals and blood pressure for the next couple of hours, and if everything is alright, then I don't see why she shouldn't be able to make a full recovery," The doctor explains.

Farkle sighs. "Thank you, doctor. For helping her and helping my son."

"We're doing our best," the doctor says before walking into his son's room.

Farkle walks over to the elevators and goes to the waiting room in the lobby. He at least needs to tell their parents and friends what happened. He exits the elevators and can't help but start crying after everything that's happened this past hour and a half. He sees his parents, Riley's parents, Lucas, Maya, and Zay stand up. The walk over to him and start hugging him.

"How are they, Farkle?" Topanga asks while crying. "How's my little girl? How's my grandson?"

Farkle explains everything that has happened. He tells them about the surgery and what happened after the surgery. It gets a reaction from everybody, but once he says that Riley is going to be just fine, they breathe a sigh of relief.

"What about the baby?" Farkle's mother, Jennifer, asks.

"He's in a private room, being monitored by the doctors and nurses. The nurse who took me out of the room with Riley told me that his oxygen started dropping when they went to get out of the womb, so he's on oxygen right now too. I don't know where they'll go from here, but you should see him. He's beautiful," Farkle says.

Everybody follows him up to room where his baby is sleeping in an incubator. Jennifer, Stewart, Topanga, and Cory go in first. They slowly walk to the incubator and stare at him.

"He's so little," Jennifer comments. "He's beautiful."

Farkle interrupts the conversation between the grandparents. "I'm gonna go check on Riley. I'm not sure how long she'll be out, but I just need to make sure she's okay."

"Okay. Will you please tell us how she's doing when you come back?" Topanga and Cory ask.

Farkle nods and leaves the room to check on his wife.

* * *

 _Riley checked her appearance out in front of the mirror inside the church. She smoothed out the silky fabric of her long white dress. She turned around and picked her bouquet of verbena flowers up. Cory walked into the room and closed the door behind him, grabbing the attention of the blushing bride.  
_

 _His eyes instantly welled up at the sight of his little girl. He brought his fist up to his mouth, trying to keep himself from blubbering in front of her._

 _"Don't cry, daddy. You're gonna make me cry, and I'm too excited to do that," Riley said. Cory walked over to Riley and picked her veil up. He placed the small hair piece in her hair and pulled the veil over Riley's face._

 _"Riley, I just wanted to say a few things to you before we go," Cory said. "I am so proud of the woman that you're becoming. You are taking the world in your hands and running with it, which is what I've always taught you to do. I want you to be happy, and I think that you couldn't have picked a better man to share your happiness with. I love you, my little girl. Now, lets go get you married."_

 _Riley sticks her hand under her veil to wipe away a tear. She gently smacked Cory's arm. "Darn it, dad!"_

 _Cory locked his arm with hers and prepared to walk down the aisle to the man that she will call husband. The two met Topanga at the beginning of the aisle and begun to walk to Farkle, who stood at the end of it._

 _When Farkle saw his bride, his eyes filled with tears of joy. He thought that she was painstakingly beautiful. Her dress, her hair, but especially her smile was enough for Farkle to feel weak in the knees. He glanced at the small group of people in the church. His parents, Riley's brother and uncle, and Riley walking down the aisle with her parents._

 _At first, they decided that they wanted a big wedding with all of their family and friends. But Riley couldn't wait, but she didn't want to fly to Vegas for a quick drive through wedding. She still wanted, at least, her family in attendance, and Farkle couldn't argue with her. He couldn't wait to marry her just as much. So, there they were. Meeting together at the end of the aisle, gaining the permission from Cory and Topanga to be given away._

 _The preacher went particularly fast at the beginning. But once he got to the parts with the vows, he let Farkle and Riley take over._

 _"The bride and groom have opted to read to each other, their own vows," The preacher says. "Farkle."_

 _Farkle smiled and pulled Riley's wedding band out his tuxedo pocket. He gently placed the golden band around Riley's tiny finger before he started. "Riley, when I met you. I knew that you were going to show me a world without science. And I was kinda scared of that. I was scared to experience something without knowing why it happened, but when you took me under your wing to experience a life filled with love, I got less scared. And when you told me that you loved me too. I was fearless. I want to thank you for showing me what a life filled with love is like. I promise to always appreciate you, care for you when you need me, adore you, and love you until the day I die. I love you so much, Riley Matthews."_

 _Riley smiled and wiped away her tears. She retrieved Farkle's wedding band from her mother and gently placed the ring around Farkle's finger. She squeezed his hands as she began. "I know that our journey to this point hasn't been easy, but when I'm with you, everything else felt easier for me. I knew I could count on you from the day you saved my life, twice. And I am so happy that you have opened your heart to me, for me, to love. I promise that I will never hurt you. I promise to always take care, cherish, and love you for as long as my heart beats and after. I love you so much, Farkle Minkus."_

 _The rest of the ceremony felt like a blur until the words "You may now kiss the bride," left the preacher's lips. Farkle lifts Riley's veil and plants one of their most passionate first kisses as a married couple. And their families clap and cheer for the happily, newly-married couple._

* * *

"Riley?"

Riley slowly opens her eyes. Her vision blurry at first but getting better as she gets used to the light of her hospital room. She recognizes the voice of her husband sitting beside her.

"Riley! Oh my gosh," Farkle says as he stands up and kisses her forehead. He squeezes her left hand and doesn't want to let go.

"What happened?" Riley asks groggily. "The last thing I remember I was talking to Maya after her party."

Farkle sits down, still holding Riley's hand. "You passed out. You had us all scared."

Riley slowly sits up and feels a sore pain on her stomach. She looks down and notices that her bump is gone. She starts panicking. "What about the baby? Is the baby alright? What happened to the baby!"

Farkle settles her down. "You're blood pressure was really high, which is why you passed out. It's called pre-eclampsia, and they had to do an emergency c-section. It would've killed the both of you. You've been out for two days because your blood pressure was still kind of high and they wanted to monitor you. But our boy is doing just fine. He was in the neonatal intensive care unit for day because his oxygen was really low when they pulled him out."

"But he's okay, right?" Riley says, still a little panicked.

Farkle smiles. "He's just fine."

Riley sighs. "Good. Can I see him?"

Farkle smiles and stands up. "I'll be right back."

He walks out of the room and down the hall to the waiting room to tell their family and friends that Riley is awake. They stand up and follow Farkle to get the baby and take him Riley. When they all enter the room, Riley is sat in shock with tears in her eyes.

"Oh my God!" Riley sobs as Farkle gently places their son in Riley's arms. "I can't believe you're already here."

Riley stares at her son in disbelief, joy, and relief. She can't believe how little he is. His tiny fingers curl around her pointer finger, and Riley feels so many emotions wash through her body. Her little guy opens his eyes and looks at her. She waves at him and whispers, "Hi. I'm your mommy. I am so excited to finally be holding you."

"What are you guys gonna name him?" Maya asks.

Riley and Farkle look at each other. "We were thinking Tyler. Tyler Cornelius Minkus," She replies, smiling at her father who is fighting back more tears.

"I think that's a great name," Maya says, wrapping an arm around her best friend and staring at baby Tyler. Riley looks up at Maya and smiles.

"What?" Maya asks.

"This is gonna be you in a few months," Riley says. "Our sons are gonna be best friends."

"No doubt about that," Maya says.

"Maya?" Riley says. "Farkle and I were talking, and we want you and Lucas to be the godparents of him. If you want to be."

Maya's jaw drops. "Um.. of course I want to be his godmother!"

"And I would be honored to be this little guy's godfather."

"Good. And since we're best friends, I know that you're gonna ask us the same thing, so yes. We will be the godparents of your child as well," Riley says, making Maya laugh.

"You know me too well," Maya says sitting down on the bed beside her best friend and looking at the tiny baby boy again. Maya feels happiness fill her insides. Not just because Riley is okay and the baby is okay, but seeing Riley hold her son and get so excited about holding him, makes Maya excited about holding her first child. It's a feeling that she's never felt before, but it's a feeling that she will definitely love getting used to.

She looks over at Lucas and smiles, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. It won't be too long before Maya and Lucas are sitting here like Farkle and Riley are.

And that also makes her excited.

* * *

 _ **Alright! I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! I hope y'all liked it! Because y'all are probably gonna hate me later. But anyway! Enjoy while you can!**_

 _ **Love y'all!**_


	19. Chapter 19

**_Hey y'all! Thanks for all the views and reviews. I love y'all! This is going to start out as a sweet chapter. But knowing how I write, there's going to be another plot twist at the end, and the next chapter. Y'all are just gonna hate me. But everything that's going to happen is stuff that happens in real life (But what leads up to it probably only happens in soap operas. Please tell me if I'm wrong)._**

 ** _Anyway... enjoy!_**

* * *

Maya knocks on the front door of the Matthews-Minkus home. Farkle answers the door with tiny baby Tyler asleep in his arms.

"Hey. I decided to drop by and visit you guys and see if you need anything," Maya greets him. Farkle smiles and invites Maya inside. Maya notices how sleepy Farkle looks, even though the baby is asleep. They walk into Farkle's living room and sit on the sofa.

"Riley's asleep upstairs. I'm giving her a well needed break," Farkle says.

Maya smiles. "Is he a fussy baby?"

Farkle shakes his head. "No. And the doctor said he might not be for a couple more weeks because he was born prematurely. But a baby is still a lot of work when they don't cry all the time. Plus, the doctor told Riley to take it easy for a week or two. I don't want her to do too much while she's still recovering."

"Yea," Maya says, staring at the baby. "You look pretty exhausted yourself."

"Well, yea. But it's all worth it. I mean look at him. I still can't believe he's mine. It feels like I've known him forever, though. It's a feeling that I never thought I'd get to feel," Farkle replies.

"I'm very proud of the man you've grown up to be, Farkle. And I know that Riley is too," Maya says forcing a smile to appear on Farkle's face.

"It's because of Riley. I don't think I would ever know what it's like to feel these types of feelings without her. I mean, she opened me up to a whole new world where love is much more than science. And then we make a baby like this, and I barely even know what science is anymore," Farkle jokes.

Maya laughs and wraps an arm around Farkle. "I'm happy to hear that. I'm happy to know that my best friends and godson are happy. I'm just all around happy."

"And I'm proud of you for allowing yourself to be happy. It's overwhelming for people like us to feel happy feelings, but it's a good type of overwhelm," Farkle says. He cradles Tyler's head in his hand while supporting his back with his other hand and moves him closer to Maya. "Do you want to hold him? It'll be okay if you do."

Maya nods and gently takes the baby from Farkle's arms. She stares at his sleeping body in her arms and gently caresses the smooth and soft skin on the baby's face. Farkle looks at him while Maya does this and stretches his arms. He stands up and walks out of the room for a moment, only to come back with glasses of water.

"Farkle? Were you scared when you first brought Tyler home?" Maya asks.

Farkle sips his water and sits back down beside Maya. He chuckles. "You and Lucas are one in the same. Yes, I was terrified. And there are times that I still feel terrified that I'm not doing the right thing. But that's why you have Lucas. You don't do it alone. Nobody can do this alone. It takes two people to make a baby, but it takes a whole family to help raise one. You and Lucas are gonna be just fine."

"I know, but I feel like this is going to be different than when Sadie was born. I don't know why," Maya says.

"I don't know how to help you with that feeling, but all I do know is that no matter what happens, you'll always have us. We're your family too," Farkle says.

Maya smiles and gently hands baby Tyler back over to Farkle. She kisses Farkle's cheek and thanks him for the advice. "Please tell Riley to call me whenever she has the time?"

Farkle nods and Maya walks out of the Matthews-Minkus home. She walks to her car and sits down, holding her stomach as she does so. She can't wait to go back home to Lucas and Sadie. Her family.

* * *

Sadie marches her way out of her room and into the gym where Lucas is bench pressing, with Zay as his spotter. Lucas and Zay decided that they were going to have a quick workout and spend some time "bro-nding". Sadie stops in front of the wight bench and waits for the attention of her father. Zay helps Lucas place the bar back on the weight bench, and Lucas sits up drying his sweat off with a towel.

"What's up, squirt?" Lucas asks his daughter.

"Daddy? I want to learn to box," Sadie says. Lucas is thrown completely off guard at his daughter's statement, and he doesn't honestly know what to say. Zay leans on the weight bench with a smirk on his face, waiting to see what Lucas is gonna say to that.

"Uh...why?" Lucas asks.

"Because. I wanna beat people up if they wanna beat me up," Sadie answers. Lucas, again is thrown for a loop.

He can't even think of a reason why Sadie would say something like that, but then it hits him. Sadie told him a couple of weeks ago that when she stayed at Kaitlyn's house, there were other older kids there who threatened to beat her up. That must have her scared that she won't be able to defend herself.

"Do you wanna learn how to box because of those kids at your mom's house?" Lucas asks.

Sadie looks down and nods. Lucas reaches out and tilts Sadie's chin up to look at him. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to learn how to box. Don't be ashamed to ask me, okay? If you feel like learning how to box, then I'll teach you."

"But I also like boxing. I wanna be a boxer just like you," Sadie says.

"I thought you wanted to be ballerina," Lucas says.

"Yea. Maya's a ballerina, and I want to be just like her. You're a boxer, and I wanna be just like you!" Sadie says. Zay and Lucas smile at the four year old girl.

"Alright. Go get some boxing clothes on, and Zay and I will teach you to box," Lucas says. Sadie runs out of the room with a huge smile on her face.

Lucas and Zay start taping their hands up. "She's too cute. I would melt if my daughter said that me," Zay says.

"I did melt, trust me. I'm kind of worried about her getting into boxing because I know how some kids are when they learn how to defend their self. They want to prove to people that they know boxing or martial arts or something. But Sadie's smart for her age. I don't think I'll have to worry about it, but I still have to implant it into her brain that just because you know how to box that you shouldn't use it whenever," Lucas explains.

"It would be funny to see though," Zay says.

Lucas laughs. "My daughter going all Rocky Balboa on somebody for the hell of it?"

"Yeah," Zay replies.

"Shut up and get the bag ready, bad influence!" Lucas says.

"Hey. My dad always told me that I should never start a fight, but I should always finish it," Zay says.

"Yea? Is that why you hollered for me all the time? To see you finish it?" Lucas teases. Zay punches his arm but laughs as Sadie walks back in.

"Hey! Look at you! You look more professional than your dad!" Zay tells Sadie. She's wearing a pair of purple boxing shorts that Lucas got her as a gift one day. She's wearing a purple tank top and a pink bicycle helmet, which makes Lucas laugh.

He walks over and takes the bicycle helmet off his daughter's head. "You don't need this, goofball. I'll get you a proper boxing helmet, but you don't need one for training."

Sadie nods and walks over to the punching bag. She punches it before Lucas has a chance to stop her. She pulls her hand back and holds it in pain.

"Did you hurt yourself?" Lucas asks. Sadie nods and walks over to her dad. Lucas looks at it to make sure she didn't do any serious damage like breaking her hand or something. He kisses her hand before pulling the tape out of his pocket. "You're gonna be just fine. But you always have to remember to tape your hands before starting to punch the punching bag because without it, you can do some serious damage to your hands, okay?"

Sadie nods and watches and listens as Lucas teaches her how to properly wrap her hands. He says that they'll practice doing that later.

"Are we gonna punch the bag now, daddy?" Sadie asks.

Lucas gives her an "are you insane?" look. "What?" Sadie asks.

"What do you always do before you start doing ballet?" Lucas asks.

"Change into my leotard?" Sadie asks.

"No, after that," Lucas says.

Sadie takes a second to think before she gets a hint from Zay. He stands there and stretches his arms and legs before she finally snaps and says, "Stretch!"

"Right," Lucas says. Zay gives her the "okay" signal with his hand before starting to stretch with her and Lucas.

"Daddy? Do you always stretch?" Sadie asks touching her toes.

"Of course. Otherwise I'll be cramping up during a match," Lucas replies.

"Yea, and then he'll whine like a bitch," Zay says, meaning to tease Lucas, but when Lucas gives him a look that tells Zay that he has just said the wrong thing, he finally realizes the consequences of his words when he hears...

"Daddy? What's a bitch?"

Lucas stands up from touching his toes and bends down to Sadie's height. "Sweetie. That is a word that you shouldn't say until you're an adult. It's a bad word that can hurt some peoples' feelings."

"Am I a bitch?" Sadie asks. Zay and Lucas try to hold back laughter. It's just too cute, but so wrong at the same time.

"No, sweetheart. Now, you need stop saying that word. Okay? Promise?" Lucas asks.

"Yeah. I promise. Sorry, daddy," Sadie apologizes.

"It's okay. You didn't know any better. Just don't say again," Lucas says. And they continue with their stretches. Sadie even goes as far as teaching Lucas and Zay some stretches that she's learned to do in ballet with Maya. They copy her movements and keep that position for a little while until Sadie says it's okay to stand back up.

They start the lesson with a few basic and easy moves that Sadie will be okay knowing. Zay switches the punching bag with a very old one that has been in the gym closet for a long time. It's a bit softer so Sadie can hit it and it not hurt her as much.

"This is fun, daddy!" Sadie yells as she rapidly punches the bag in front of her. She punches the bag as hard as she can and the bag swings back away from her, only for the bag to swing back and knock her to the floor. Luckily, Zay and Lucas placed a few mats down just in case something like that happened.

"You okay, sweetheart?" Lucas asks.

"Yea. I just wasn't expecting that!" Sadie replies. She spits into her hand and sees blood there. When she opens her hand she sees one of her pearly teeth. "Whoa! Daddy, look ! I lost my first tooth!"

* * *

Lucas laughs when he tells Maya what happened.

"Lucas? How in the world can you laugh at the fact that your daughter lost her first tooth because she got knocked over by a punching bag?" Maya asks.

"The same way she laughed about it when she spat that tooth out into her hand. You should've seen the look on her face when she saw it," Lucas replies.

Maya thinks about it and laughs too. "That girl is something else. I swear."

"She really is. She's really excited about the tooth fairy coming to visit her for the first time," Lucas says making Maya giggle.

"I still wonder where she gets her adorableness from," Maya says.

"What? You still don't think it's from me?" Lucas asks.

"Ehh? Maybe a little," Maya teases and cuddles into his sides.

They are sitting on the couch watching television when their tv show is interrupted by a news bulletin. Maya sits up and looks at the tv.

 _"We interrupt this program to inform you of breaking news. We are just getting word of ten prisoners who have escaped the New York City penitentiary. We have no information on how this escape took place, so we will be covering this as the night goes on. The identities of the prisoners who have escaped are identified here..."_

Maya looks at the television screen with a horrified expression. She doesn't even see the other nine prisoners. When she sees the name and face of her ex boyfriend on the screen, her eyes immediately drift to that name and face.

And she feels scared again. But for an entirely different reason.

* * *

 _ **Alright! I hope y'all enjoyed that! I also hope y'all don't hate me now! Things from this point on will get interesting. Promise!**_

 _ **There aren't many chapters left, but what is left will excite y'all! Thanks to all of you who continue to read this!**_

 _ **Love y'all!**_


	20. Chapter 20

_**Not many chapters left! I'm predicting possibly two or three (maybe four?) plus an epilogue. And who knows what else I could do with the characters that make it to the end? It'll be fun to pursue, but I'll let you guys tell me if you want more.**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

* * *

Maya hasn't spoken a word in two days. Lucas is beginning to worry about Maya's and the baby's health. She is putting a lot of stress on herself which isn't good for either of them. It's all Tony's fault. Although Maya seemed like she was getting back to her old self, she is turned back into someone who is scared to leave her home because of that man. Lucas can't begin to feel the trauma that Maya feels. Her abusive ex boyfriend who has escaped prison is causing Maya to become closed off. Lucas tries to sit down and talk to her, but when she's not asleep, she's laying in bed and not speaking to anyone. Not even Riley, who has called her phone multiple times.

Lucas opens his front door to the answer of their problem.

"Hello, Mr. Hunter," Lucas greets Maya's step father at the door.

Shawn walks in and pats Lucas's shoulder, "You can call me Shawn, kid."

Lucas nods and steps aside for Shawn to walk into his penthouse and check the place out. Since getting married and after Maya graduated high school, Shawn and Katy have spent most of their time on a boat. They travel the world and stay in exotic places and take photographs. They really haven't been updated about anything going on with Maya since the pregnancy almost six months ago.

"This is a nice place you've got," Shawn says.

"Thank you, sir," Lucas responds as he shows Shawn to the living room. They take a seat on the couch and Lucas offers Shawn something to drink. Shawn opposes the offer, and Lucas takes a seat next to him.

"So, what is happening? When you called us, you sounded very worried. Are her and the baby okay?" Shawn asks.

"Her and the baby are fine, for now. She's putting so much stress on herself because the other night she saw on the news where ten prisoners have escaped and are on the run. One of those prisoners is her ex boyfriend, Tony. I'm worried that she's going to worry herself and the baby to death," Lucas explains.

"We should've been here for her. I mean, we're her parents. She's supposed to come to us for anything that she has a problem with. She had to be in a relationship with someone who beat her. What kind of parent just lets their child go through that?" Shaw asks.

"I don't know if this would help any, but she didn't tell anyone. I was the first one to find out. I found out that she was in a relationship with him when he accepted my open challenge for the charity boxing match. Something about the she acted around him gave me a hint that she didn't like being in a relationship with him anymore. She was teaching Sadie's ballet class, but there was one day when she wasn't in the studio when I dropped Sadie off. She was arguing with him over the phone in her office. I heard him yell at her over the phone, and she threw her phone at the wall, and it almost hit me." Lucas explains.

"Gosh. If I could get my hands on that guy," Shawn says.

"She wanted to argue with me, but I noticed that she had a bruise on her arm. And she said that he just needed to let his anger out over something that isn't even her fault like slow traffic or something," Lucas continues.

"What happened that made her move in here with you?" Shawn asks.

"She was going to go with Riley to Riley's first ultrasound appointment. Riley and Farkle went to pick her up, but they found her whole apartment in disarray, and they found Maya beaten in her bedroom, pretty badly. She went back to her apartment after she got released from the hospital, and she said that she was too scared to stay there by herself. She didn't know if she could do it, so I let her stay here," Lucas explains.

Shawn sighs. He pinches the bridge of his nose and thinks about what he can say to Maya to help her. Lucas knows how much Shawn loves Maya and how he will do anything for her.

"I'm very happy that you two are still in each others' lives. I know that I wanted to kill you when she came home and cried to me about you and that one girl. It broke my heart to see her so heartbroken, but Maya's resilient. She can get through anything. And I thought you were insane for coming to her to ask for help with Sadie, but she helped you anyway because that's who Maya is. Honestly, I knew you two would find your ways to each other again. And I'm happy you did. I don't even want to think about what could've happened without you," Shawn says.

"I love your daughter, sir. I always have. I always will. I wish I could help her, but she won't speak to anyone. I had to drop Sadie off at my mother's house so she wouldn't have to see Maya like this," Lucas explains.

"Where is she?" Shawn asks.

Lucas and Shawn stand up, and Shawn follows Lucas to his and Maya's room, where she is sleeping.

"She's been like this for a few days now. She won't talk, she's hardly eaten anything, and I can't help but start to freak out a little bit," Lucas says.

"It's okay. I'm glad you called us to let us know about her," Shawn says. He stands on the side of the bed where Maya is facing him. He bends down and gently shakes her shoulder until she is fully awake.

"Shawn?" Maya says. She sits up and wraps her arms around his neck tightly.

"Look at you, kid," Shawn says, hugging her back.

"What are you doing here?" Maya asks.

"Lucas called me because he's worried about you and the baby. He told me about Tony, and I can't even begin to express the anger I feel towards that man, but I'm not here to do that. I'm here to wake you up, help you relax, and make sure you eat something," Shawn responds.

Maya looks at Lucas with a look expressing gratitude. She doesn't normally do this because she thinks that she can handle some of her feelings by herself. But this is a different situation. Lucas knew that Maya needs something else to calm her cry for help. And Shawn is the perfect person to do that.

"I know that you're scared. It's understandable so don't feel like you can't talk to anybody about it. If you need to talk to someone, then that man," Shawn says and points at Lucas, "Is the best person to talk to about it. You two are gonna be with each other for the rest of your lives. You were there for him when he didn't know what to do when it came to Sadie, and he's gonna be here for you through this. Trust me, going through something like this alone isn't fun at all. And you're only hurting yourself and the baby."

"I'm just scared that he'll show up again," Maya confesses.

"Maya, just remember that you're with Lucas Friar. He is a professional boxing champion. He beat that man up months ago. If there's anyone in this world that you should feel safe with, it's him. He won't let anything happen to you, Sadie, or the baby," Shawn says.

Maya doesn't say anything. Instead, she takes Shawn's words to heart. She doesn't know why she got so scared when she is engaged to a boxer. The same boxer who beat her abuser in a match that feels like it happened a lifetime ago.

"No matter what happens, you two are going to be just fine. You're Lucas and Maya," Shawn says.

Maya glances at Lucas before getting out of bed and hugging Shawn again. "Thank you, Shawn. You always know how to make me feel better."

"Anytime, kid," Shawn says. The three of them walk to the front door of the penthouse. Shawn opens the door and turns around to say goodbye to the couple.

"Have you and mom went to see Riley and her baby?" Maya asks.

"We'll have plenty of time to do that," Shawn says.

Maya looks at him confusingly, "What do you mean?"

Shawn smiles. "You're mother and I are done with traveling. We're moving back to New York to settle down and help you guys if you ever need it. Plus, we don't want to miss the wedding."

"Oh my gosh!" Maya exclaims, hugging Shawn again. "I'm so happy to hear this!"

"Well. I gotta get going. I'll check up on you two soon," Shawn says.

The two say their goodbyes to Shawn as he walks out the door of the penthouse. Maya stands quietly behind Lucas and stares him. She immediately has tears in her eyes when Lucas looks back at her.

"What's the matter?" Lucas asks, wrapping his arms around her and laying his chin on the top of Maya's head. She squeezes him tightly when she hugs him back.

"I'm a horrible, fiancee. I should've known and trusted that if Tony were to show up that you would protect all of us. I'm so sorry, Lucas." Maya apologizes.

Lucas cups her face and wipes a few tears away from her cheeks. "It's okay. I'm not gonna lie when I say that I forgot that I was a boxer and that I kicked his ass months ago. He honestly helped me feel better about the whole situation too."

Maya forces a smile on her face. Lucas leans down and pecks Maya's lips before wrapping one of his arms around her waist. They walk upstairs and lay down in their bed.

"Is Sadie staying at your mother's tonight?" Maya asks.

"Yea. She was excited about losing her first tooth, and she couldn't wait to tell her grandma that she got five dollars from the tooth fairy the other night," Lucas replies, getting a giggle out of Maya.

Maya and Lucas lay in silence for the longest time. They are stuck in their own thoughts. They still feel a little scared, but Shawn really helped them feel better about the whole situation. If something were to happen, then Maya and Lucas know that they are going to be okay. Tony doesn't stand a chance between the two of them. Hopefully.

* * *

Maya reaches out beside her and feels that Lucas's side of the bed is empty. She opens her eyes and looks at the clock, which says that it's two-thirty in the morning. Maya yawns and gets out of bed to see where Lucas is. She slowly walks down the stairs and into the kitchen. It's dark, and she can't see anything. When she turns the light on, the sight in front of her is enough to make her anxiety raise an alarming amount.

Lucas is laying in the floor, unconscious. There a small pool of blood surrounding the back of his head.

"Lucas!" She exclaims. She gently lift his head up and immediately finds the gash on the back of his head. She gently sets his head in her lap, and Lucas begins to open his eyes.

"Get out of here, Maya. Go to the police," Lucas tells her in a raspy whisper.

"Why? Lucas, what is going on?" Maya asks.

"Don't ask questions. Just do it," Lucas says.

"You're crazy if you think I'm leaving you here," Maya says before she gently places his head back on the floor.

Maya tries to help him out of the floor, but he's too groggy. She finally is able to pull him out of the kitchen floor and drag him to the couch. She lays him down before running upstairs to grab her phone.

"Mrs. Friar? I know that it's late, and this might sound crazy, but you need to keep Sadie with you until Lucas and I are able to call you again. Call the police and send them to this address," Maya says.

"Maya? What's going on? Are y'all alright?" Mrs. Friar asks.

Maya feels a stinging pain in the back of her head. She's laying in the floor of her and Lucas's bedroom. She can hear Mrs. Friar calling her name through the phone. She also hears, "I thought you weren't scared of me anymore," before she loses consciousness.

* * *

 _ **Alrighty! I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! I've been kind of conflicted as to whether or not I should put Shawn and Katy in the story, so I decided to just have Shawn in this chapter and have him and Katy show up later on. Sorry I had to leave it off with a cliffhanger. It's obviously not a mysterious cliffhanger, but it adds more angst (Oops! I used the a-word for the first time this whole story).**_

 _ **Next chapter will get exciting. Then we'll see the falling action of the plot and the conclusion and the epilogue (Sorry, no plot twists at the end of this one. But I will say that I might write a story about The Friar/Hart and Matthews-Minkus kids as they grow up to be teenagers. You know what they say about history? It repeats.).**_

 _ **Let me know! Love y'all!**_


	21. Chapter 21

_**Hi guys! I am still in love with all of you because of how invested y'all are. I love it! Anyway, I do want to run something by you guys. After this chapter, I will probably have two more chapters afterwards plus a (possible?) epilogue. Then, I will get back to Two Way Door (which y'all should read, honestly), and I will be working on other stories. I do have an idea for another spy thriller, and I have an idea for a romantic comedy. So be on the look out!**_

 _ **TRIGGER WARNING: There will be uncomfortable situations in this chapter. (Abuse, attempted sexual abuse, language, slight gore, and death). Also some words used in this chapter may make you uncomfortable. I'm not sure who you are and what makes you uncomfortable, but I do want to make it clear that there will be uncomfortable words and uncomfortable situations.**_

 _ **So given what was mentioned just above, I will change the rating of this chapter to M.**_

 _ **I also would just like to add that I made you uncomfortable or offended you in anyway then I want to apologize in advance. I don't intend to bring up stuff that may be tough to remember or talk about, but if you ever need someone to talk to, then I am always available to help you in anyway that I can. I promise that I am pretty good therapist. I love you all, and if there is anything I can do for you, please let me know.**_

 _ **Enjoy this chapter! The stuff after the attack happens kind of quick, so I hope it makes sense.  
**_

* * *

Maya opens her eyes to pure darkness. She's not sure if she's still in Lucas's penthouse or not because there is a dark sack covering her face. She feels like she's suffocating with this sack over her head. Her heartbeat is racing, and the first thing she thinks about is the baby. _Is he okay? Please don't be dead._

She tries to move her arms, but they are handcuffed behind her. How this bastard ironically got handcuffs is beyond her knowledge. It's just too bad that she didn't learn to defend herself in the midst of her ballet training. Although she is in pain, and she knows that she's not strong enough, she tries to break the handcuffs in half anyway. Anything to free her from whatever the hell is going on right here.

She screams when she can't break the cuffs. Her wrists are so raw from how much she pried them apart. She tries to compact her hand into the smallest form that she can and tries to slide her hands through the metallic rings. She ends up with no progress.

"I see someone is awake," The man says. He takes the sack off of Maya's head and smirks when he sees how much pain she is in. "You sure do have a funny way of showing me that you're not scared of me anymore. What happened to that girl? Because as long as we've been in a relationship together, I never saw that girl. Not once."

"It's your fault," Maya mumbles to her ex boyfriend, her abuser, Tony.

The smirk from Tony's face fades to a frown. He takes two steps closer to her and, with his whole hand, harshly grabs her chin. "I'm sorry. Did I miss something important?"

Maya continues to try to break free from her handcuffs. She doesn't respond to him because she knows what will happen if she does.

"You know," Tony begins. "I don't know why I wasted my time with someone who is such a pussy. Honestly. All you were good for was your pussy."

Maya wanted to scream for Lucas, but judging by the way he looked when Maya found him in the kitchen, she doesn't think that he is going to come for her any time soon. This makes her feel so scared that he is dead. She doesn't think she would be able to handle herself if Lucas were to die. Her handcuffs still won't budge. Maya looks around the room and notices that she and Tony are in Sadie's room, and Maya silently thanks God that Sadie isn't apart of this situation right now.

She looks at the time on the clock on the nightstand beside Sadie's bed, which reads two thirty-four a.m. She was only out cold for a few minutes. She feels like she's been tied up for hours.

"Does Lucas pleasure you like I did?" Tony asks as he runs his hands up and down her thighs from behind the chair she is tied up in. She wishes she could kick him in the dick right now.

"Do you remember how good I used to make you feel, Maya?" Tony asks her, stepping in front of her again.

Maya, with tears rolling down her face, ignores him. She knows what she has to do to free herself from these handcuffs. She wishes that she didn't have to do this, but her adrenaline is pushing her to do this.

"Answer me!" Tony screams as he punches her face twice, resulting in a busted lip and a bruised cheek.

Maya screams, but it's not because of the pain that Tony just caused her. The feeling of breaking her own wrist is enough to make her scream so loudly, but she's not in that much pain right now. She's so fueled with adrenaline to even care about the pain that her wrist will give her later. Her broken left wrist causes the handcuff to slip off. The handcuffs are still wrapped around her right wrist, but she is free enough to kick Tony's nuts and untie her legs. She tries to run away, but Tony is quick to stand back up and trip her by her feet. She holds her stomach to shield the baby from her fall. She doesn't know if that will really help or not, but she has to try something.

"You stupid little bitch!" Tony yells. He climbs over Maya and pins her hands over her head with one of his hands. He uses his other hand to roughly grope her.

"Help me! Lucas! Somebody! Please!" Maya cries.

Tony slaps her face. "Shut up! Don't you dare scream in my face again."

Maya closes her eyes tightly as Tony's hands start to creep around her again. Before Tony is able to grope her again, he is roughly shoved off of Maya. Maya opens her eyes and sees Lucas standing over Tony with his fist in the air. She sees Lucas punch him over and over again. Tony blocks one of Lucas's punches and send Lucas to the floor himself.

"Lucas!" Maya screams before getting up and pulling Tony off of Lucas. She elbows him in the nose before she swiftly kicks his throat. Tony holds his throat as he tries to regain his breath. Maya helps Lucas out of the floor. They run out of the room.

"Maya. I need you to get out of here. I don't want anything else to happen to you or our son. Please, go. I can take care of him until the police get here," Lucas says.

"Lucas. I am not leaving you here," Maya responds.

Before Lucas has any chance to argue with her, he is tackled down the stairs. Maya sees the two of them laying at the bottom and begins to panic. She rushes to Lucas's side and checks to see if he's still breathing. As of right now, he is still breathing, and she can feel a pulse in his neck. She slowly walks over to Tony to see if he's still breathing. She can't see his chest move up and down, and she doesn't feel safe enough to check his pulse. She leans over to hear if he's breathing, but she is met with his hand clamping around her throat. Picks her up and slams her against the wall of the living room.

"You are gonna pay for everything you have done to me, Maya," Tony says. Maya struggles to breath. She has her right hand up to try and pry his hand away from her throat. He raises his other hand up in the air in a fist.

"No," She says in a raspy voice. "You are gonna pay for everything you have done to me!"

Maya sees Tony's eyes widen. His grip on her throat gets more and more loose. Before he falls to the ground, he spits blood on her face. She sees Lucas standing behind him with blood on his hands. Tony is laying in their living room floor in a pile of blood. Maya checks his pulse.

"He's dead."

* * *

The police knock the door of Lucas's penthouse down. They walk into the living room and see the results of what has just taken place. Maya and Lucas hold their hands up, surrendering to the weapon yielding cops. They immediately put Lucas and Maya in handcuffs and take them to the police station.

Lucas calls Topanga and explains to her what happened. She tells him not to say anything until she gets there, which didn't take long for her to arrive. There, they give their statements of what really happened. They were attacked by a fugitive on the run from the law. He was going to kill them, so Lucas killed him in self defense.

Topanga sits across the table of the interrogation room where Lucas is sitting.

"I still can't believe this happened to you and Maya. I believe you when you that you killed Tony in self defense. But we still need to have a good case to present to jury. This isn't the same kind of trial that I helped you with before. I got the quickest possible date that I can get for your trial. It's in two days, so you'll have to stay here while I figure out how I'm going to convince the jury that you were acting purely out of self defense of you, your fiancee, and your unborn child," Topanga explains.

"Wait. Did they take Maya to the hospital? They need to see if the baby is okay. They need to fix her wrist. She broke her wrist to break free from the handcuffs that Tony put on her," Lucas says in a panic.

Topanga grabs his hands. "Lucas, you need to go to the hospital too. You were hit pretty hard in the head. We need to make sure that you are capable to go through a trial."

A police officer and an EMT walk into the room. "Friar. You need to come with us."

The police officer puts Lucas's hands behind his back and follows the EMT outside the station to the ambulance where Maya is laying on a stretcher. Lucas sees that she is in a lot of pain, and there is a lot of blood.

"Maya? What's going on? Are you alright?" Lucas asks.

"I don't know. I think something is wrong with the baby," Maya cries. Lucas holds her hand and lets a few tears slip down his face a little bit too.

"We're gonna get through this."

* * *

Maya opens her eyes, and she realizes that she is in the hospital. When she sits up, she sees a green cast wrapped around her hand and wrist. Her head is wrapped up in a bandage, and she is missing something. She starts to panic, and she reaches for the button to press to get her nurse into the room. She looks at the doorway when she sees her mother and step father walk in, along with Riley and Farkle.

"What's going on? Where is my baby?" Maya asks the already puffy faced crowd. "Where is Lucas?"

Riley and Katy stand on either side of Maya's bed. Maya notices how sad their tears are. "Answer me! What happened to my baby?"

Riley holds her hand as she begins to speak. "Lucas had to go back to the police station after he was cleared to be released back into police custody. His trial starts today, but my mom doesn't think it will last that long."

"Why did the guard let all of you come see me?" Maya asks.

"Well, there isn't a guard outside of your room. Although you were apart of what happened the other night, you still didn't kill anybody. So you are free when you get out of here. Lucas is still in jail. He has to wait there until his trial begins," Shawn explains.

"The other night?" Maya questions. "How long have I been out?"

"Three days."

Maya lays back down and begins to cry again. All of the memory of what happened that night coming back to her. All of her bruises from where Tony hit her and touched her begin to ache. She lays her hands over her stomach and remembers what happened in the ambulance the night she and Lucas were brought here.

She quickly sits up in a panic. "Where's my baby? You never answered me!"

"Sweetie," Katy begins. "You went through a lot the other night. The baby just couldn't handle it."

The nurse walks in, and Maya asks the question again. "Where is my baby?"

The nurse stands at her bedside and grabs her hand.

* * *

Lucas sits in a chair in the court room where he is waiting for the judge to walk through the door and begin. He twiddles his thumbs and stands up when the judge walks in. He waits for the judge to allow them to sit down before beginning.

He hears the courtroom begin to talk about how he killed Tony, but he can't focus on what they're saying. All he keeps thinking about is how he's going to explain what happened to Sadie. He hasn't seen her in four days, and he knows that this story is all over the news. Whether or not his mother let Sadie know about it is beyond him. He keeps thinking about what happened to Maya and the baby and wonders if they both are alright. He left the hospital the same night he went, and wasn't informed about anything to do with Maya's condition or his baby's condition.

It scares him to think about what his future is going to be right now. Is this jury doesn't believe Topanga when she explains the situation of self defense, then he will go to jail for the rest of his life. If they do acquit him, then he is afraid of what he will find out about Maya and the baby when he sees her in the hospital. He is afraid that his daughter will think that he is a monster.

How is he going to get through this?

After what feels like forever, Topanga finishes her closing argument as to why Lucas shouldn't be put into prison for self defense. "This man was just in here a few months ago when he lost custody of his daughter. Don't let him lose custody of her again. Lucas Friar is a good man. He has proven to be a good man many times, and if you think he would deliberately kill a man for no reason other than to protect his fiancee, his unborn child, and himself, then I don't know what kind of world we live in anymore. Thank you ladies and gentlemen of the jury. I rest my case."

"All rise!" The bailiff yells. Everybody in the courtroom stands up as the judge walks out of the room, followed by the twelve jurors. After they leave the room, everybody begins to disperse.

Lucas sits back down and buries his face in his hands. "Thank you, Mrs. Matthews. I don't know what I'd do without your help."

"Lucas. As many years as I have known you, I've always known you to be a respectful and kind human being. I'm not worried about you one bit. And it's no problem to help you," Topanga explains.

Lucas nods and continues to wait for the jury to make their decision.

Topanga makes her way back to her seat after walking out of the courtroom for a little bit. Lucas looks at her but hears the call to rise for the judge before he can ask if the jury has made their decision yet.

"The jury has made their final decision. Juror number one if you could please inform the court of the final decision," The judge says.

Juror number is a woman. She has short brown hair and dark brown eyes. Her glasses hide most of her face, and she is dressed comfortably, which is a bit odd for being a juror for a trial for a murder case. She stands up confidently and looks at Lucas.

* * *

Maya walks into the neonatal intensive care unit. She follows her doctor and nurse past the window where she sees a few premature babies laying in incubators. Her doctor and nurse open the door to the private room beside the NICU, and Maya sees him.

"Oh my God," Maya whispers when she sees him. "How? How did you do that?"

"We were quick to retrieve him from the womb and get him into an incubator. We were lucky to get him on some oxygen before he quit breathing all together. He's gonna be in here for a while. We have medication that will help him develop normally, but if the medication don't work, then we can make him as comfortable as possible," The doctor explains.

"You saved him one time, and now you're telling me that he could still die?" Maya asks, trying to hold back tears.

"I know it's not what you wanted to hear Ms. Hart, but we are doing the best that we can," The doctor says. "It will be nice for him to have you and the father here if he can make it. It's nice for premature babies to have people who love him around him. You never know. It might encourage him to stay."

Maya nods and looks at her son. The doctor pats her shoulder before walking out of the room with the nurse. Maya walks over the to incubator and sees how little he is. She opens the little window where his head is. She sticks her right hand, with a glove on it, inside of the box and gently caresses her son's tiny hand. When she does this she notices that his little fingers don't even fit around her finger, but he grabs on anyway. That is enough to get Maya to break down. She stands there for a long time and cries.

"You need to listen to your mother when I say that you need to get through this, okay, buddy?" Maya says. "I know you can get through this. You have the same DNA as your grandma, and your sister. And your father."

"And your mother."

Maya turns around and sees Lucas standing there with a smile on his face. He is dressed in the same gloves and scrubs as she is as he begins walking towards her.

"They...they let you go?" Maya asks.

Lucas nods meeting Maya with a hug. He feels like he doesn't ever want to let go of her again. He is shocked to see his son laying in the incubator.

The doctor walks in again and smiles. "We are allowing other guests to come in here only if you want them to."

"Yea. They can come in," Maya and Lucas agree.

It isn't long before they joined by Katy, Shawn, Riley, Farkle, Cory, and Topanga. They all gather around him and give him words of encouragement.

But they'll just have to wait and see.

* * *

 _ **Just like y'all will! I know that everything that happened in this chapter went kind of fast, and I know that a murder trial wouldn't normally happen that fast. That's why it's called fanFICTION people. I just wanted to move past that part as quickly as I could because we already experienced one trial this story.**_

 _ **Anyway, I hope y'all liked it! There will be a lot falling action to happen in the next chapter. Lucas will finally get to talk to Sadie (which I need to do some research on. I still don't know how I want her to react, but y'all know that no matter how she reacts that everything else will end up fine between Lucas and Sadie.). Also, we will find out the name that Maya has picked out for her son, (Hint: it's not anything meaningful, it's just a name she likes) and Riley has a promising idea.**_

 _ **Y'all will just have to stay tuned, y'all will love it. Just like I love y'all!**_


	22. Chapter 22

_**Hey y'all! Sorry for not updating in a while. I have been so busy because I'm getting ready to go to college and just some other things. But I am so happy to be writing this chapter! If you missed the last two chapters, then I do want to toot my own horn and say that the last two chapters before this one are the best ones I have written so far. It does have dark and uncomfortable situations in it, so just read the trigger warning post. So much happened in the last chapter that it's crazy.**_

 _ **This chapter starts the beginning of the falling action. I am calling maybe one more chapter plus an epilogue left for this story. So I hope y'all love it!**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

* * *

Maya is woken up by a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit. She lifts her head and sees her son still hooked up to many machines in his incubator.

The last week hasn't even felt real for Maya or Lucas. Everything that happened with Tony in the penthouse and everything that happened with Maya and Lucas's son feels just like a dream. It is unreal for Maya to get across the fact that her son weighs three pounds and is only ten inches long.

Maya sits up and smiles at the nurse as the nurse begins to speak. "Mrs. Friar, the doctor would like to speak to you and your husband."

Maya smiles at the nurse's mistake. She needs to get used to being called Mrs. Friar. She will be Mrs. Friar soon, but she's not sure how soon yet. She nods and walks over to Lucas who is sleeping in one of those chairs that can be reclined into a small mattress. She gently wakes him up and tells him that the doctor would like to speak to them.

Lucas and Maya walk with the nurse outside and meet with the doctor in his office. When they walk in, they see Riley and Farkle standing in the office with their son in Riley's arms. Maya looks confused at the couple and the doctor, but they take a seat and wait for somebody to start speaking.

"Ms. Hart. Mr. Friar. My job as a doctor doesn't come easy. In a situation like this there is always a risk where I have to take my heart off my sleeve and put it away for a little bit. It's difficult to stay detached from patients and their families especially in a case like this one. It's not easy to tell people bad news when you hope and pray continuously for the well being of the patient and their families. I have good news and bad news for the both of you. But this time is different. I'm not going to take my heart off my sleeve," The doctor says.

Maya and Lucas's hearts begin to beat faster. They are so scared that the doctor will tell them that their son is not responding to the medicines that the doctors have been working so hard to get for him.

"The good news for you two and your son is that he is responding to the treatment," The doctor informs them eliciting a sigh of relief from both Maya and Lucas, but then they remind themselves that this is the good news.

"What's the bad news doc?" Lucas asks.

The doctor looks down a second and smiles. "He doesn't have a name."

Maya and Lucas look at each other and begin to get emotional. They are amazed at how their baby boy is so strong considering how little he is.

"Oh thank God," Maya breathes. "Thank you doctor. Thank you and everybody who stayed here and worked for so long to help our son."

"It's my job. When I get to deliver news like this, it makes my job a whole lot easier. But I do have to say that he's not quite ready to go home yet. We have to get him off the oxygen to see how he does with that. Then we want to get up to at least five pounds before we send him home. So the actual bad news is that you're gonna get an outrageous bill in the mail. If it were up to me, I wouldn't charge thousands of dollars because of how precious and urgent this life is, but I don't have any say over it. The billing goes through the hospital owner. The doctors only get a percent of what is paid," The doctor explains.

"It won't be any problem, doctor. After all that you have done for us," Lucas says.

Maya looks at Riley and Farkle. "What are you two doing here?"

"Well, I was gonna get to that," The doctor says. "Riley and Farkle came to me this morning with the idea to place Tyler and your son next to each other. Tyler is premature, and he may be able to encourage your son when he is taken off the oxygen."

Farkle nods. "I've done research about premature babies, and I read an article about twins that were born prematurely. They both had breathing problems so the doctors put the two together in an incubator and wrapped their arms together in an embrace, and the twins used the energy from that to get better."

"But our children aren't twins," Maya argues.

"Yea, but there is so much love in our families that they will grow up like they are. I mean they are only a few weeks apart," Riley says. Maya stands up and smiles as she walks over to wrap and arm around Riley's shoulder. She looks down at Tyler who is looking back at her.

"Okay. Let's go," Maya says.

* * *

Lucas gets up and opens the door to his mother's apartment after somebody knocks on the door. Lucas, Maya, and Sadie aren't living in the penthouse anymore. They decided after everything that happened there that they needed somewhere else to start a new life with a new member of the family.

Shawn and Katy give Lucas and Sadie a hug when they are invited in by Lucas. Sadie jumps into Lucas's arms, and the four walk into the living room where Lucas's mother and Maya are sitting on the couch playing with the newest member of the Friar-Hart family.

"Mom. Dad. Meet Chase Patrick Friar," Maya says. This is the first time Shawn and Katy have been able to come see the baby since he got out of the hospital a few days ago.

"He looks tiny even in Maya's arms," Shawn teases as he gently takes the baby in his arms. "He's beautiful, just like his mother." Maya smiles and lays her head on Shawn's shoulder.

Katy grabs Maya's hand and kisses her temple. "I'm so proud of you baby girl. I can't believe my only baby has a baby now. It seems like yesterday I was bringing you home from the hospital. It makes me sad how much you've grown up, but I can't be more happy for you and Lucas and Sadie. And I love all four of you."

"Thanks, mom. We love you too," Maya replies.

"So are you guys living here now?" Shawn asks.

Lucas nods. "Yea. We just didn't feel like the penthouse was a real happy place for Sadie to keep living in and to bring Chase home in. We're looking for a house in the suburbs where y'all and Riley and Farkle live, but we want to move in after the wedding."

"So that means you are gonna have the babies while these two go on their honeymoon," Katy looks at Lucas's mother and says with a smile.

"Yea, but I love these kids so much. And if you ever want to take care of them for a night, then I'm sure Maya and Lucas would be okay with that," Lucas's mother says.

Maya looks at Katy and Shawn. "Of course, but I don't know if we're going to go on a honeymoon yet. Chase is still so little. We want to wait until he's bigger before we go on a honeymoon."

Katy, Shawn, and Lucas's mother nod. It makes sense. Chase is only over a week old. He's tiny, and he needs a lot of care right now from Lucas and Maya and Sadie. They don't even know when Lucas and Maya are planning on getting married, but that a different conversation for a different day.

"Well. I'm very happy for the three of you. A blessing like this happens everyday, so I am happy that you kept hoping that this blessing would turn into a miracle," Shawn says.

"Thanks, dad," Maya tells Shawn. He kisses the baby's forehead and hands him over to Katy who spends time with her grandson.

This is something that Maya has wanted for a long time. A family like this. Her mom who is happy with the man who has been like a father to her since the day they have met. The Matthews' and the Matthews-Minkus' who have always been there for her. And a man like Lucas and his daughter who is like her own. And her and Lucas's son, who is stronger than she ever thought that she was. That's all she could ever ask for. She asked for a family like this for a long time and never thought she would get one, but looking at the people around her and the people who have always been there for her, she realizes that she's always had that family.

And she considers herself lucky.

* * *

 _ **I hope y'all loved this! I wanted to make a sweet chapter, and I love how sweet it is. I hope y'all did as well.**_

 _ **The next chapter will be the last one. Then I will right an epilogue. I bet y'all can guess what the next chapter will be...**_

 _ **Love y'all!**_


	23. Chapter 23

_"For it is not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart.  
It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul."  
\- Judy Garland_

 _Maya & Lucas  
request the pleasure of your company to celebrate their marriage.  
Saturday, March 27th  
Brooklyn Bridge Park  
at one o'clock_

* * *

Lucas lays the extra invitation on the table in the building where he, Maya, and the other boys and girls are getting ready in. He stands up and looks in the mirror one more time. His yellow bow tie feels tight around his neck, he knows that he is just nervous, but he loosens fabric anyway. He buttons his vest up before sliding into his tuxedo jacket. He sees his best friends and best man appear behind him with big smiles on their faces. They walk up to him and pat him on the back; they both look like proud fathers.

He remembers when Maya asked him months ago about who his best man was going to be. Lucas looked down at the baby boy asleep in her arms at the time, earning a giggle from his beautiful fiancee. He really wanted Zay and Farkle to be best men too, but he just decided that his son would be the best choice, but Zay and Farkle are going to be groomsmen. Maya asked Sadie if she wanted to be the maid of honor, but Sadie denied and said that she would rather be the flower girl. So Riley was picked for the maid of honor job.

Lucas looks down at his eight month old son who is sitting in a stroller. He has to chuckle at how cute his son looks in a baby tuxedo, but Chase doesn't seem to mind it. He bends down and touches the palm of Chase's hand. Chase's fingers immediately grasp Lucas's finger, which is one of the best feelings in the world to Lucas.

"How are you feeling right now?" Zay questions his best friend.

Lucas smiles. "I feel like this is all a dream. A dream that I don't want to wake up from. If you told me eight years ago that I would be marrying Maya, the woman of my dreams, with my daughter and our son standing right there with us, I would have laughed in both of your faces. Don't expect this smile to go away any time soon, fellas."

"That's good to hear," Farkle begins. "I'm really proud of the people that you and Maya have grown up to be. You stopped being scared of your feelings, and you both took your chances with each other. I've known Maya most of my life, and I don't think I've ever seen her as happy as she is when she is with you, Sadie, and Chase. We all knew it was going to happen, even in middle school. We all knew that you needed to figure out how you felt about Riley first, and I have to thank you for not taking her away from me."

The three boys share a laugh until they hear a knock at the door. Lucas walks over to open it, and looks down to see his baby girl standing there in her flower girl dress.

"Wow! Daddy, you look very handsome," Sadie compliments her father. "So do y'all, Farkle and Zay."

Lucas picks Sadie up and rests her on his hip. "Thank you, Sadie. And you look very beautiful in your flower girl dress. Are you excited about being the flower girl?"

Sadie nods. "Yes. I am very excited. The petals are really pretty."

"Can you tell daddy how Maya looks?" Lucas asks.

"Daddy? Do you even have to ask? It's Maya. She looks very beautiful. She looks like a princess! Her and aunt Riley started crying after she put the dress on, but she told me it was happy tears. So I came here," Sadie explains.

"So mommy is almost ready?" Lucas asks as he gets a nod from Sadie as a response. "Okay. You go back to the room with Sadie and Riley and the other girls okay? I think we're about ready to start the wedding."

Sadie nods and kisses her daddy's cheek before walking out of the room. Zay and Farkle follow her out. Lucas looks in the mirror again, fixing the yellow rose on his boutonniere. He takes a deep breath and walks out the door too.

* * *

"Maya you look so beautiful. Lucas is a crazy man if he doesn't cry when he sees you in this," Riley cries. Maya turns around and gives her best friend slash maid of honor a crazy look.

"He better cry, or I will make him cry," Maya says, earning a sobbing giggle from Riley. Riley finishes curling Maya's hair and pulling a few pieces of her hair out of her face. She grabs Maya's veil and places it gently in her hair.

Riley is about to walk away, but Maya quickly grabs her wrist to stop her. "Riley. I am so sorry that I couldn't be at yours and Farkle's wedding. I feel like a horrible best friend for not being there."

"Maya, don't start the crazy talk. If we still talked, then I would have invited you. It is because you couldn't be there is the reason why Farkle and I decided that it should just be our parents but don't beat yourself up over it. I'm at your wedding, and you were there for me when Tyler was born. Maya, you tried to give me everything I wanted, you are exempt from having any bad feelings about not being able to come to my wedding. Besides, Farkle and I could always renew our vows," Riley says.

"I love you, honey," Maya says, giving Riley a hug.

"I love you too, peaches. I gotta go outside and get ready to walk to the alter. You gonna be okay for a few minutes?" Riley asks. Maya nods, and Riley walks out of the room.

Maya checks herself in the mirror one more time. She's in her dressing room by herself. She feels anxious, but she knows that it's a good kind of anxious. The amount of times her life has changed in the past year is unbelievable to anybody. She could tell her story to anybody, but she doubts that they would believe her.

A knock at the door followed by it opening grabs her attention from her thoughts. She turns around and sees her step-father standing there. She walks over to him and stops right in front of him. He looks at her and can't help but begin to get emotional.

"I always imagined a day like this. Giving my daughter away to a man who treats her well and loves her deeply. I can't even begin to tell you how many dreams of mine you've helped me to accomplish, kid. Before I give you away, I just wanted to let you know that your mother and you are two of the best things to happen to me. I wanted what Cory and Topanga have, but I got what I needed the day I married your mother. Cherish this day for as long as you're alive. It's a special day," Shawn says, wiping a few tears away. "You ready?"

* * *

Riley walks down the aisle to the alter where she winks at Farkle. She whispers 'you better cry, or she will make you cry' to Lucas before taking her place at the alter. Lucas laughs and turns his head to the direction of the people walking towards the alter.

Lucas's breath hitches when he sees Maya look at him. She is smiling and already has tears in her eyes. She's clinging onto Shawn's arm as they take their time to reach him. Tears prick the corners of Lucas's eyes, and he can't help but to release a few. It warms his heart to see the woman of his dreams look so happy after all the problems that she has been through the last year or so.

When Maya reaches the bottom step of the alter, Lucas steps down and shakes Shawn's hand before he joins Katy on the front row of chairs. Lucas takes Maya's hand and walks her up the three steps to meet the preacher under the alter.

"You look so beautiful," Lucas says, wiping away his tears. He grabs her hands and the ceremony begins.

Lucas stares at Maya the entire ceremony. He verbatim repeats what the preachers tells him, and she does the same when it's her turn. He squeezes her hands when they are ready to read their own vows to each other.

Lucas gently slides the gold band around Maya's ring finger and holds her hand as he begins to say his vows. "Maya Penelope Hart. Every time I look at you, my heart skips a beat, and I lose my breath. I never thought I would meet a girl who would have that effect on me. I thought when I met you on the subway ten years ago, and my heart skipped a beat, and I lost my breath a little bit, that I was never gonna see you again. And that scared me. I always knew that I wanted to be with someone like you, but I didn't think I would actually have a chance with you. You gave me feelings that I didn't even know that I could feel, and when you helped with me whenever I needed help with Sadie, that just made my feelings even stronger. I promise that I will make you feel those feelings too. I promise to protect you no matter what stands before us. I promise that I will always be your huckleberry. And I promise to always love and cherish you and our kids forever."

Maya takes her hand from Lucas to fan the tears in her eyes away, but it doesn't work. Riley hands her a piece of paper that has her vows written down on them. She looks over them and hands them back to Riley before grabbing his wedding band from her and placing the ring on his finger.

"Lucas. I used to tell you that you couldn't go out with a fantasy, and boy was I wrong. What girl doesn't fantasize about her knight in shining armor? Most girls don't go out with their fantasy guy, but I got lucky in my case. There is somebody out there for everybody, and I always felt like my somebody was you. I was just too buried in my pit of despair to realize that my light at the end of the tunnel was going to be you and Sadie. The same boy who put me into my pit of despair saved me from it. How crazy does that sound? But you know what? I love you for fighting your way back into my life. I am happy that you did it because you are one of the best things to ever happen to me. You gave me a reason to hope. I love you, Lucas Friar. I am going to adore you. I am going to cherish you. I am going to love you forever," Maya says.

The crowd is definitely using their tissues that were placed in every seat. The preacher continues with the ceremony until he comes upon the ending.

"Lucas Friar. You may kiss your bride," The preacher says. Lucas smiles and pulls Maya to him passionately kissing her as the crowd erupts into cheers.

* * *

It is now a quarter to midnight. Maya, Lucas, Sadie, Chase, Riley, Farkle, Tyler, and Maya's parents are the only people left at the reception. Maya and Lucas are enjoying one more dance before midnight as are Riley and Farkle. Shawn and Katy are watching the babies who are asleep, ready to go home.

"I can't believe you're my wife now," Lucas says as he sways from side to side with Maya.

"I know. It seems unreal, but I'm glad that it is real," Maya smiles and looks over to where her parents stare proudly at the couple. She giggles. "I think my parents are ready to go home too."

"This song is almost over. We can leave after this one," Lucas says. He spins Maya around and dips her, catching her by surprise.

"Wow, Lucas! Did Sadie teach you that?" Maya teases.

"Yes, she did actually. I taught her some more boxing punches in order to learn that," Lucas says. Maya laughs and lays her head on Lucas's chest.

"I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow morning when I wake up. I was so used to being hopeless and miserable. Now that I'm married to you, I don't think I could ever feel that way ever again. You saved me, Lucas. You've given me everything that I've prayed for every night since middle school. I am so happy with you, and I hope we can keep it that way," Maya says.

"I promise we will. We never fought a lot when we were together before, but it's different this time. I'm not got screw up. Because I will lose the three best people in my life," Lucas says. "And the thought of that scares me."

Maya and Lucas walk over to Riley and Farkle and tell them goodbye when the song ends. Then, they walk over to Shawn and Katy and tell them goodbye. Maya picks Chase up in his car seat, and Lucas picks Sadie up in his arms and they carry their children to the car.

"I love you, Lucas Friar," Maya says.

"I love you too, Maya Hart...Friar," Lucas replies.

And they seal it with a kiss before starting the car and going to their home.

* * *

 _ **I hope y'all enjoyed the last chapter! I tried to make it as lovey and smushy as I could make it. It's kind of disgustingly cute, but I am so happy with it. I am so happy with the amount of y'all who loved this and the first story. It's this stuff that makes me want to continue to write. And I have a lot of fun stuff coming up.**_

 _ **I do want to run something by y'all. I've decided not to an epilogue because I feel like this chapter kind of summed everything up, so this chapter kind of acts as an epilogue. But I was also thinking of another sequel? But instead of the story focusing on Lucas and Maya and Riley and Farkle, maybe it could center around an older Tyler, Chase, and Sadie? I don't know. You know what they say about history? It repeats.**_

 _ **I love y'all, and thank y'all for being so amazing!**_


End file.
